What I’m Watching: United States of Al

United States of Al: Season 2, Episode 19 “Guilt / Gunah” (B+)

It’s very true that, up until this point, Riley hasn’t been remotely interested in learning anything about Freddy, and in fact, he’s been downright hostile to him. Now that he and Vanessa have officially filed their divorce papers, he could theoretically be able to let go, but instead he’s still carrying on an affair with her and he’s the only one who seems to be feeling guilty. Making Freddy a birdhouse was a kind gesture, and I suspect that Freddy’s ominous words at the end were free of any true meaning, but he’s going to find out eventually, especially considering that Al knows and might accidentally share it with the wrong person. After Cindy tagged Al in a photo on Instagram, Al was resigned to marrying the neighborhood bully to appease his furious mother, and it was fun to see Art step in, after earlier telling Lizzie that he could translate Angry Disappointed Parent without even knowing how to speak the language, to defend Al to his mother and assure her that he was an incredible guy who was raised very well by his mother. I enjoyed Ariana’s reaction to finding out that Al was going to have to dump her because a white girl tagged him on social media, and I think there’s hope for the two of them working out now that Al’s letting his vulnerable self be seen. Breaking up with Cindy for good isn’t going to be easy though, and he’s the one with the neater love life right now anyway compared to Riley.