What I’m Watching: Suburgatory

Suburgatory: Season 2, Episode 11 “Yakult Leader” (C)

I made my list of shows I was giving up on too early. I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to watch this episode, which sealed the deal for me in terms of a fifth show that I was planning to drop. It’s interesting, because this episode’s random inclusions of Judaism made for the perfect fodder for a post on my Jewish Journal blog, Awards Material, but that’s mainly because they were so incoherent and unexplained. Wilmer Valderrama has been used to much better comedic (“That 70s Show”) and dramatic (“The Dry Land”) effect before, and forcing George to painstakingly pronounce his name just isn’t funny. Dallas allowing yet another person into her relationship is frustrating since it’s happened so many times before, and there doesn’t seem to be anything George can do to get her to focus solely on him and not on the people who want to see them apart. I did enjoy seeing George bond with Dalia, though the content of their conversation didn’t do it for me. Sheila asking Tessa to help set Lisa up was, surprisingly, championed by Lisa herself, and the fact that it was Scott Strauss who turned out to be the internet date made for a few quick laughs and nothing more. Ryan asking Scott how he gets his hair so silky and telling Tessa to break up with him for Scott was admittedly entertaining, but Lisa’s emphasis on her potential mate having several limbs wasn’t. This show can be fun sometimes, but at this point, it’s ceased to be more endearing than bizarre, and I’m done.