TV Recap: Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 - "A Weekend in the Hamptons..."

Left to right: Ray Ford, James Van Der Beek and Krysten Ritter

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: Ford and Van Der Beek

Now that James Van Der Beek is kicked off of Dancing with the Stars, how does the show decide to progress? In an odd way, Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23 was based largely around that other show, and a lot of the comedy was driven from there. True, he's been spending time with People Magazine and donating time at charity events, but otherwise, this show just lost a key proponent to Van Der Beek, the satirical take of celebrity. However, they have managed to bounce back with an episode with a moral as true to the show as anything else: let the bender guide you.

The episode begins with June (Dreama Walker) being furiously woken up by Chloe (Krysten Ritter) on the account that there is an emergency evacuation. After grabbing clothes and a couple of prized possessions, the two hop into a car. For some reason, June is covered in tin foil and Chloe takes this opportunity to tell her the real reason for getting her out of bed. They're going to be spending the weekend in the Hamptons.

Back in Apt. 23, the two begin talking things out and the plan is slowly revealed. For the past few years, Chloe and Van Der Beek have gone to parties at a wealthy man named Willoughby's mansion. The parties were usually lavish and involved people getting naked. Chloe also plans to have sex with Willoughby during her visit. Meanwhile, Van Der Beek is coming down the stairs depressed, to which Luther (Ray Ford) tells them not to make fun of him. He immediately accuses them of making fun of a hat that Jason Mraz gave him. Luther tries to cheer him up by saying that they have every right to be jealous.

The trip begins with Luther, Van Der Beek, Chloe, and June in the back of a limo, driven by Robin (Liza Lapira), who cheated her way into going by borrowing her father's limo. June is also expecting a business call that will hopefully get her a nice paying financial job. However, all of the numbers are 212 area codes and turn out to be family members calling from undisclosed locations. They make numerous stops to let June literally milk a cow and deal with farmer life. Chloe is upset that June has made a list and tells her to let the bender guide her. Meanwhile, even the blink of the limo is causing Van Der Beek to go into Dancing with the Stars post traumatic stress disorder, or DWTSPTSD. 

They soon get to Chloe's friend Katarina's (Olivia Dudley) house, which they plan on crashing at. She used to be one of Chloe's accompanying party girls. When they arrive, she has two kids and suffers from the stress of being a mom. Chloe doesn't buy it and keeps calling her bitch. Apparently she had sex with Willoughby and is now in this position. She doesn't accompany them to the party. June also takes a detour to go bird watching.

During June's trip, she stops by a mom and pop store. She picks up supplies. Even though a man suggests a mosquito net, she says no. He insults her and says that she should take it unless she wants to die. Also there is Mark (Eric Andre), who is with his girlfriend Jennifer, whom he plans to propose to. However, Jennifer doesn't like mom and pop stores because she thinks that the food gets dusty. Also there is Willougby (Nick Thune), who gives June a riddle for the address to his party that night.

Meanwhile, Chloe and Van Der Beek are drinking their misery away while talking about how they don't want to end up like Katarina. This leads Van Der Beek to leave Katarina's house and do the bender by himself. He walks down a dirty road with the limo following him. Luther jumps out occasionally to hand him another bottle. Robin is driving, and Luther finds the situation odd that an Asian woman is driving poorly and a black man is in the back of the bus. Still, they continue down the road.

Nick Thune

That is, until Van Der Beek disappears. Going off the main road, he heads into a pool area where he claims to have heard a woman scream. He runs into Mark, who claims that the scream came from his girlfriend. News quickly appears that Jennifer dumped Mark and now he's going on a bender. Van Der Beek invites him along and the two begin bonding as they grow drunker and drunker. 

After solving the riddle, June and Chloe go to Willoughby's party, which is crowded. June is in awe as they try and make themselves acquainted. June notices that her phone doesn't have any bars and quickly tries to find someplace to get signal. This results in her climbing up to the second floor and noticing that Willoughby is there hiding out in a dark corner.

He reveals that he doesn't like loud parties and that they bother him. He also knows how many people have attended because of his trusty counter clicker. Creating himself as a Gatsby figure, he finally comes to the balcony and looks over the crowd to share a speech. However, this is quickly halted when Chloe recognizes him as her ex.

The story is that during a drunken weekend in the hamptons, Willoughby, who created the identity to be popular, and Chloe were dancing. Suddenly, Willoughby suggests that they get married, since there are a bunch of people doing it upstairs. They hadn't seen each other since, and Chloe believes that he was dead based on a vague story of a dead guy who kind of fits the description. However, because the marriage was never annulled, it wasn't too much of a problem.

Van Der Beek and Mark, who drunkenly play basketball, talk out all of their problems. Mark tries to say that Van Der Beek isn't that bad off, just because he failed on national television and became the butt of several Jimmy Kimmel jokes. The two decide to recoup their losses and go to Willoughby's to dance. This goes well, but causes June to take her eyes off of Chloe, who takes off to travel down a dirt road followed by the limo.

She claims that she is going to have sex with Lenny Kravitz in a bush. When they find her, she shares the story and the group gathers around in a campfire circle formation and begin drinking and talking things out. June discovers that she has a call for her job the next morning. Robin goes to drive her away. Meanwhile, Mark and Van Der Beek begin talking about Mark's feelings towards June, which are very amorous. Van Der Beek encourages him to let his emotions carry him. But first, they decide to write a screenplay together.

At Katarina's house the next day, Mark and Van Der Beek are hungover and wondering what happened the night before. Apparently Mark said some bizarre if inessential stuff to June, but nothing about his emotions. June and Robin are back from the meeting, where she reveals that she is the newest junior analyst for the company and bought everyone scones to celebrate. Also, Luther gave Katarina some vanity tips, which seem to make her feel more appreciated. The episode ends with the group enjoying the food, and laugh at June, who drinks a concoction that was compiled from breast milk.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Left to right: Dreama Walker and Eric Andre

We are entering a great stretch for the show, which I feel has started to find itself in the past few episodes. After the Dancing with the Stars dilemma of the last episode, we get a logical reason for the show to embrace alcoholism, which they manage to turn into a glorious, comical premise. Almost everyone has a reason to drink (well, Chloe always drinks even if there isn't a reason), and we get the chance to hear every character vent and essentially just have plenty of solid character moments.

This episode is great because it finally realizes the potential of the other cast members outside of the main three. It is also effective, because the stories are not embarrassingly just thrown in because the episode needed filler. Almost every story compliments each other and does so without doing anything so farfetched that it isn't believable. Even Chloe seems to be avoiding her trend of doing ridiculously complicated stuff to get into social elite circles. This is a very down to earth episode that I feel is a great exploration of drinking.

Possibly the greatest detail of all of this drinking is the limo. Robin, who is also finally being accepted as a realistic character, desperately tries to fit in by following her drunk friends around with a limo. There is something about Van Der Beek walking around and having Luther jump out of a car to give him a drink that is pretty inspired. A simple gag, but one that goes a long way in this show.

I also like that June's arc in the episode is not sabotaged at all by Chloe. True, she could have stayed at home and achieved the goal, but Chloe doesn't spend the episode trying to steal her phone or corrupt her chances. She does shout scrotum whenever June picks up the phone, but that is the extent. Chloe is allowed to be a bitch on this show, but I think she is more effective when it is her being bitchy in a subtle way. 

Chloe came across strong in this episode. Even her back story with Willoughby seemed oddly endearing, though she has done this almost every other episode. Still, her realization that she has attended every type of party imaginable at the end adds emotional weakness to her and makes her more human. 

The one thing that I cannot quite understand is that taboo. The show is perfectly fine if it wants to censor the title to promote itself. Very few channels would let "Bitch" fly in advertisement, anyways. However, Chloe uses the word bitch to describe Katarina at least three times. This goes back to the theme song, which cuts out the word by the sound of a door buzzer. I know that there is an aesthetic there, but you can't help but feel like it is unnecessary censorship when the show is perfectly allowed to say "bitch." 

I like where they go with Van Der Beek with his DWTSPTSD. It has given a chance for Luther to be seen as a real character as well. He is more of a nurturer and therefore more tender to his needs. Also a nice touch is the amount of conversation that he has with Robin. The two have whole segments dedicated to them talking about being second banana to people. Those small moments essentially make them more interesting and flesh out this universe in ways that I feel are beneficial to the show's growth.

Also, I feel like Mark is becoming more interesting. Maybe the introduction of June's other coworker last week was a predecessor to where the show was going. Maybe there needs to be a third party now that Mark has expressed interest in June. Where will that conversation go? Hopefully it will not be dragged out with tension-filled "will they/won't they" nonsense. Maybe the other coworkers will add something, like a buffer, and keep the show from turning into an awkward June-Mark place of romance. Or it could be dropped, but this concept felt too established to just be a one-off.

This is probably one of the better episodes of Don't Trust the B---- in Apt.23 this season simply because it wasn't about low brow concepts, like making fun of deformities (though Katarina's children could arguably be a small insult), but instead exploring what makes these characters dysfunctional and what their drives are. Most of all, we saw them work as a group in interesting dynamics that let almost everyone have a moment to shine. Even the faux "the Great Gatsby" approach to things added a small inspiration to the episode. Here's hoping that we see the show continue to feature a great mix of teamwork, alcoholism, and whatever else they want to try and turn into traditional moral lessons.