TV Recap: Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 - "Love and Monsters..."

Left to right: Celia Finkelstein and Krysten Ritter

*NOTE: Due to Hurricane Sandy, NBC has moved 30 Rock's episode to Wednesday this week. I will not be able to post my 30 Words column immediately following the episode. You can expect it sometime early Thursday morning.


Welcome to the TV Recap column for the ABC comedy Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23. Every Wednesday, I will be bringing you a recap of the most recent episode as well as personal insight into why I find the characters to be an infectious version of what 2 Broke Girls wishes it was. So please join me for a fun season as we deal with the bitch, the Beek, and June as they get into wacky adventures. Also, make sure to check out my columns for Bob's Burgers (Tuesdays) and Parks and Recreation (Thursdays) right here on Optigrab.

Continuing in the vein of meta humor comes this week's episode, as it dives into an odd topic: chick flicks. It is a much dreaded category that even Chloe (Krysten Ritter) hates. However, this isn't a Valentine's Day episode, but a Halloween episode. How does this tie into the actual plot? It makes more sense than you think.

The episode opens with June (Dreama Walker) decorating the apartment for Halloween with a voice-over cheerfully describing the holiday as a time to dress up and embrace fears. There are spiderwebs all over the walls and scary decorations on the door. The place looks really dazzled for the event. As June opens the fridge, she finds a sculpture of Chloe's head with a note attached detailing that "If you keep buying Edamame Chips, I'll kill myself." Chloe shows up moments later to discuss the plans for Halloween, which involves a party being thrown by James Van Der Beek. However, the video that he has sent out is a very innocent blend of cats, rainbows, and ice cream singing a happy song. This is because Van Der Beek has trouble with the scary side of Halloween and finds it unnecessary. He chooses to call these positivity parties. 

During the following day, June is hanging out with Mark (Eric Andre) at a local theater watching a chick flick. This leads June to describe how Chloe hates the genre because it preaches that women need men to be happy, and Kate Hudson. However, moments later, it is discovered that she is out on a date with a man named Ben (Ben Lawson). June speculates that she's on a date and is planning to fondle him in the theaters. Turns out Chloe just wanted popcorn.

During a run in a bathroom stall, Chloe and June begin talking about why this is an obscene gesture. This is when everything is revealed about Chloe's life. She makes a Halloween ritual out of ruining someone's life, whether it be through hypno-therapy, weight loss, or bad career choices. Her routine is known as the pump and dump, in which she studies her subjects and gets them close to her long enough to have sex to the Facts of Life theme song before dumping them. She does it every year, and June wants to change the course of history.

In the next scene, Ben is introduced at the apartment to June, who claims that they are perfect together. There is also the introduction of the slob best friend Zonk (John Gemberling), who burps and doesn't try very hard to look appealing. Upon leaving, the concept of chick flicks finally plays into the plot as June begins discussing the construction of the archetypes where she is the overeager best friend of the protagonist (Chloe) who will settle for the Jim Belushi/Jonah Hill type (Zonk). She refuses to follow this logic and spends the rest of the episode trying to break the rules with the help of Mark, who doubts her through the whole thing.

At the positivity party, Chloe comes dressed as a sexy flight attendant (which she based on Ben's mother, though she sexied it up because his mom wasn't sexy), and June came as a hobbit, which she claims brings in her inner beauty. After turning down a man dressed as a firefighter who also wants a ring, Chloe is appalled by her getup, which features hairy feet for accuracy and reflects her continuing struggles. June's plan to ruin Chloe's night is to share a video she posted of Ben and Chloe to Train's "Hey Soul Sister." However, since she didn't have pictures of Ben, she used pictures of Dave from Happy Endings (I dislike this ABC crossover promotion that comes and goes on the show, but I'll let it pass).

By the time the video ends, Chloe compliments June on being a good editor and is out the door. Meanwhile, Van Der Beek meets Mark at the door, who is dressed like Satan. This annoys Van Der Beek, who demands that he leaves. Mark refuses and spends the rest of the night stubbornly hanging out at the party. 

Following the Ben and Chloe story, everything is in the final turn of events. Chloe puts on the Facts of Life theme song and is getting ready to have sex. However, she has a moment of guilt. She reveals how she planned to ruin his life with her pump and dump theory. Ben revealed during this time that he was doing the exact same thing by doing all sorts of chick flick cliches on their past few dates. This mortifies Chloe, who doesn't know what to do.

So she decides to go back to the apartment and bake. She feels like she has the urge to bake and discusses how Ben tricked her with chick flick cliches. The setup continues to have June set to end up with Zonk, who shows up to her work, trying to hit on her. Of course, It's Just Beans is a mess the next day at work as it features the Halloween hangover crowd and Mark is still over at Van Der Beek's trying to talk things out. He ends up ruining Van Der Beek's plans, which was to have sex with a woman dressed as a sexy bunny.

It is soon revealed that Chloe is having some sort of an epiphany. In a call to June, she describes how during the walk, she ran into a Bee (Celia Finkelstein) who told her the rules and logic of the chick flick universe, which was that everyone likes it because they want a happy ending. Chloe bought into this with the final advice that she needed to go to the airport. It wasn't important that she went went anywhere, just what she did there. She boards a taxi as she texts June that she just hung up (though the bigger question is why June was allowed to be on the phone taking personal calls during peak business hours).

At the airport, Chloe runs into a lobby, where the intercom tells her to pick up a white courtesy phone. It is Ben, who is finally professing his love for her and hopes that this isn't the end of a long ruse. However, she doubted her so much that he put a switchblade in her bag. The security arrests her on the spot, and as they get pulled away, Chloe makes insinuation that this wasn't the end, though knowing her, this could be a lie. 

The other stories end with Van Der Beek and Mark working out their problems on the basis that the Halloween fear is childhood based. June doesn't end up with Zonk, though remains single and desperate to not be the supporting character in the chick flick realm that is this episode. Zonk however is a firefighter cook who serves the men of duty.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Left to right: Eric Andre and James Van Der Beek

One of the reasons that makes this show great is not that it addresses the meta level of humor that it is going for, but tries to debunk them with witty observations. After tearing apart reunion shows last week, the choice to assault chick flicks by making the entire premise oddly similar to an actual revenge story. It may seem done to death, but it isn't quite blatant as it could be in this episode and therefore leaves room for the actors to play out the premise, which serves as an upward scheme as well as a romance that is sure not to last beyond this episode (though I could be wrong).

I am also a fan of this episode because while Chloe was the typical jerk self tonight, she was more vulnerable and less edgy than last week. She was out to hurt someone's feelings, yet she also ended up showing emotions. Her relationship with Ben may have started off as a con, but it developed into a vastly interesting premise that may have been very cliche, but also very ambiguous on which way it could go. Both were trying to screw each other over and ended up losing. I don't know how that works.

Along with the story, it was just jammed pack with great subtle moments. From Van Der Beek's invitation video to my favorite gag, which involved Chloe opening the bathroom stall to find June, this was off the wall fun and kept moving at a tight speed. Even the story between Mark and Van Der Beek, as simple as it was, had payoff. It wasn't necessarily deep, but does well to help deconstruct the persona of the Dawson's Creek star, which this show takes pleasure in doing constantly.

I also am glad that the Zonk story went nowhere. I may have enjoyed the rest of the tropes, but Zonk was flat and dumb. That may be the point, but the simple walk ins were enough for me. It would have been a waste to make that a central plot for June. In a way, that gives June some points this week, if just for choosing not to follow suit. 

Overall, a really fun episode and continuing proof that this could be a really strong season. I am also glad that Chloe seems more grounded this week. I find her eagerness to be the make or break of the show, and the more human she is in the episode's reveal, the better things turn out. Here's hoping that the show figures out what to do with her, because this show really deserves it.

Also check out more of my work at http://nerdseyeviewpodcast.blogspot.com/ where I have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.