TV Recap: Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 - "Bar Lies..."

Left to right: Ray Ford, James Van Der Beek, Shanti Lowry

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.

Left to right: Jennie Pierson and Dreama Walker

After months of hyping it up, it is finally time to see what happens when James Van Der Beek takes to the stage and struts his stuff on Dancing with the Stars. Will he become the winner, or is his partner once again some Greenland movie-shooting klutz? At very least, we can make the case that after a few weeks of making fun of minorities and enjoying lowbrow humor, the show is finally back on track and tackling the hard hitting issues in the least hitting ways possible. And we should be thankful for that.

At a bar to celebrate the going away party, Van Der Beek and Luther (Ray Ford) are busy giving toasts and enjoying themselves. This is a big moment that seems to have brought the whole town together. As June (Dreama Walker) is on the phone with her mother (Eve Gordon), detailing all of the events, she apologizes for not being able to go to an olive oil tasting event with her. As the night progresses, she notices that Chloe (Krysten Ritter) is posing as Katie Holmes' cousin in order to get drinks, a'la a bar lie. This annoys June to no end, but Chloe insists that the lies are only meant for innocent bystanders to get free drinks. June refuses to lie on the basis that she is a descendant of Abraham Lincoln and is therefore an Honest Colburn.

At work the next day, June is talking on the phone in front of coworker Pepper (Jennie Pierson). Pepper thinks that she is talking to James Van Der Beek, and this leads to a barrage of questions. June's insistence on being honest leads her to also talk about the olive oil tasting event and get her hopes worked up. The phone call is actually from Chloe, who demands that she gets down to the bar immediately to hang out.

Left to right: Van Der Beek
and Ford

Somehow she manages to get off of work and heads down there. She sees Chloe talking to a man (Dominic Dierkes) about sports. June knows her way around the conversation and asks him about his opinion of Jimmy Fallon. She has Chloe now.It is during this time that June's mom finally reveals that she won't be available for the olive oil tasting event because she is sick. As excited as June is, she just shrugs it off and goes about her day. She also gets a call from Van Der Beek, who is now in Los Angeles, and is told all of the directions that she needs to take care of his house. The call is interrupted when Luther notices John Goodman walking around (no actual cameo).

When June gets to Van Der Beek's apartment, she notices that there is a crowd there. Chloe is posing as a real estate broker and is renting out the place while he is away. As an Honest Colburn, June detests this and demands that she get out of her lie hole. This doesn't phase Chloe and she goes through with the deal, also pointing out the beautiful view. She also points out that she isn't lying to anyone, she just simply omitted some facts.

During the rehearsals for Dancing with the Stars, Van Der Beek meets Valentina (Shanti Lowry). The routine is flawless and causes Dean Cain to storm off in fear that he will lose. Meanwhile, June is trying to get over Van Der Beek's absence by watching TV, which only makes things worse since he is on almost every channel. Receiving a call, she is forced by Chloe to come to Van Der Beek's apartment for the olive oil tasting event to compensate for the cancellation. Pepper is there, whom Chloe thinks is her sister. However, so are the tenants who rented the place, who demand some privacy. Chloe threatens them by saying that they will have to pay utilities.

After trying to seek guidance from a church lady named Pastor Jin (Rosalind Chao) in the choice to consider lying, she finally calls her mom to try and straighten things out. The news unwinds and suddenly it is revealed that her mom is out in Los Angeles with Van Der Beek, who considers her a M.I.L.T. (Mother I Like to Talk to). This spirals June into more questions of guilt and whether or not she should use lying. She ends up accepting it and lies to everyone to get out of work and seeing people that she doesn't like. She even starts doing bar lies, which gets Chloe upset.

In Los Angeles, Van Der Beek is freaking out. To calm him down, June's mom decides to make him Chinese tea. This is all fine until he gets on stage and begins dancing. He is hallucinating badly, crawling on the ground and thinking his hands are oddly shaped. It gets so bad that it has to cut to commercial and bring the next contestant out for his number. In the audience, Luther and June's mom try and talk out a disaster that he considers worse than Belvedere. June's mom pulls out the box that she made Chinese tea with and it is revealed to be some foreign, hard to read box, most likely containing what broke Van Der Beek. At home, June and Chloe are watching the results, and when they discover the news via phone call, the revelation of honesty wraps up the episode.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Left to right: Ford and Eve Gordon

I will admit that I enjoy when the show tries to tackle basic issues in a very complex way. The issue here is lying, and by June's mom breaking June of her Honest Colburn nature, this creates a great dynamic of comedy and morals. It forces the viewer to determine what is right and wrong, and how powerful simple lies can be. While they don't have terrible effects outside of free drinks and upsetting your daughter, it does make for some of the show's better gags this season.

I also like the more roped in Chloe personally. The past few weeks have seen her doing obscure, high level wire acts that involve unbelievable propositions. Here she is back to doing something that is kind of obscene, but more believable. She also doesn't seem overly caricature. Her real estate gig may have been built on a lie, but Chloe's ability to go anywhere and control the room is a phenomenal aspect of the show that makes or breaks it on a weekly basis. In fact, the whole episode could have just been about James Van Der Beek's apartment and it would have been great.

We also get introduced to another coworker of June's, Pepper. While I have grown to enjoy Eric Andre's character, it did seem weird that there was only two people in that whole place that talked to each other. Pepper may not be that well developed just yet, but I can see potential, especially if she just hangs around and gets mistaken for June's sister. The worry is that her obsessive side is going to clash too much with June, who has at times been equally obsessive in this past season. It would be too repetitive. However, we need to expand the base of women on this show beyond Chloe, June, June's mom, and Robin. I can see Pepper eventually finding her place just like I feel that Luther did (though he's still somehow labeled a guest star in the credits).

I was originally not interested in their Dancing with the Stars plot line, as I felt that it clashed too much with my belief that ABC was just promoting ABC shows through other ABC shows. It seemed shallow. However, the more that I understand the gimmick of James Van Der Beek on this show, the parody of celebrity, the more I understand why this plot was essential. The payoff is also kind of weird, but well worth the build up. I wish that he lasted a little longer and didn't just fail because of hallucinogenics, but I guess that maybe the show has something in store for the upcoming episodes that needed to finish off this plot. It's been nice seeing the behind the scenes aspect of Dancing with the Stars and they really knew how to build up to a moment.

This is why I enjoy the show. It may be a little too surface-level in terms of plot and humor, but the way that it handles it almost seems like a promising new format. I feel that Chloe's character carries the show very well and June's honesty grounds it. It may be the typical odd couple, but it is almost like a weekly look into harnessing a beast and controlling it. Still, the comedy explores great topics like honesty and obsession in ways that I feel that other shows aren't. It just has trouble getting there sometimes.

I also like that the cast is quickly building itself into nice corners. I like that both stories were solid. However, it did seem odd that almost all transitions were done through phone calls of some sort. The big reveals were because of a call. I didn't quite realize it until compiling notes, but it almost seemed ingenious, but also a little lazy. I will give it a pass because it helped the show progress nicely, but I hope that this is one aspect that isn't thrown into the ground repeatedly. 

Now that Dancing with the Stars is over and he is not People's Sexiest Man Alive, what will James Van Der Beek do? Are we going to see the aftermath next week? I am kind of excited to see where the show goes. Maybe Chloe will set up some crazy scheme again. Also, is Pepper going to be a one-off, or will we get a chance to see her again? This show is so close to winning over my heart, and I would hate to see it regress with a dumb plot that insults deformities again. So, bring it on!

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