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First Airdate: April 17, 2009
Written by John Enbom
Directed by Fred Savage
At "Sin Say Shun Awards Afterparty," we reach the midpoint of season 1 of Party Down. After two somewhat rocky episodes (by the standards of this show, meaning we weren't even glancing at anything below "B-" territory), the show perks up with an episode that throws caution to the wind and applies the full force of its Starz-permitted ribaldry to the established formula. Ultimately, this episode's execution of that is slightly imperfect, but it results in a terrifically funny episode that harnesses shock value into something clever and fun rather than just resting on its laurels by merely being ribald and calling it a day.
Well, most of the time. This is the episode where Roman reveals that he's a character who's never going to soften or deepen, like Kyle did in the previous episode. This entry fully unshackles him, allowing him to blossom into the unmitigated prick that he will remain throughout the series rather than just an obnoxious pedant. This will serve him well in the future, but some of the punchlines he delivers here are among the sourest he ever delivers, and have aged the poorest to boot.
Though, what else would one expect from Roman in an episode where the entire premise is to force its characters to confront their relationship to sex? Here, the intrepid Party Down crew find themselves in the mix with a group of porn stars, directors, and producers who are celebrating after their big industry awards ceremony. The inhibitions in the room are the lowest they've ever been, and everyone involved has the idea of sex shoved directly into their face, quite literally in some cases.
Although most of the guest stars are just-barely-but-not-quite household names (save Ken Jeong in the first and less interesting of his two appearances as Party Down owner Alan Duk), the ensemble of partygoers around the main cast has never been more likable or interesting. Beth Dover is unexpectedly sharp as the dangerously intoxicated Cramsey, who deadpans her increasingly alarming life story to Henry. Mather Zickel is also superb as Guy Stennislaus, the absurdly peculiar producer who scouts Ron's penis at the urinals. His bizarre vocal inflections and angular physical carriage bring him right up to the line of being a live-action cartoon, and all this serves to make his ultimate, twistedly quotidian punchline even funnier. Hell, even a one-line drunkard with a New Jersey accent ("use your hand to slap it around") is firing on all cylinders here.
While this episode uses these characters to its advantage, firmly planting its flag as to the comic identity of the show in doing so, it does all come somewhat at the cost of having the main cast volley around one another quite as smoothly as they usually do. For one thing, Jane Lynch's Constance is barely in this episode, only appearing in a few moments opposite Mr. Duk without much of anything to do, though she - naturally - squeezes an excellent comic moment out of effortlessly matching Casey's energy when she whirls in after taking a tab of ecstasy.
The rest of the cast are given their own funny bits (except for Roman, whose arc is just kind of mean), but they're mostly siloed out into their own stories without interacting much with the others. Ryan Hansen is coasting on his Cool Guy flirting mode here, and while Ron's storyline is laugh-out-loud funny, it's not taxing Ken Marino one bit.
At least Casey and Henry get to have fun for once, which is always a delight, as he chases around a man who might give him a tab of ecstasy while she bumbles around the room, absolutely rolling. The sexual tension everywhere in the room underlines their struggle to really get together and bang out the proper balance of love and lust. This ecstasy storyline is also much more interesting and layered than the pot subplot in "Pepper McMasters Single Seminar."
Ultimately, the show would figure out how to combine great guest stars with excellent moments with every cast member and tightly plotted arcs with thematic throughlines, but for now this episode is merely very funny. And very funny is exactly what it's supposed to be, so really who can complain?
Rating: A-
Brennan Klein is a millennial who knows way more about 80's slasher movies than he has any right to. He's a former host of the Attack of the Queerwolf podcast and a current senior movie/TV news writer at Screen Rant. You can find his other reviews on his blog Popcorn Culture. Follow him on Twitter or Letterboxd, if you feel like it.
First Airdate: April 17, 2009
Written by John Enbom
Directed by Fred Savage
At "Sin Say Shun Awards Afterparty," we reach the midpoint of season 1 of Party Down. After two somewhat rocky episodes (by the standards of this show, meaning we weren't even glancing at anything below "B-" territory), the show perks up with an episode that throws caution to the wind and applies the full force of its Starz-permitted ribaldry to the established formula. Ultimately, this episode's execution of that is slightly imperfect, but it results in a terrifically funny episode that harnesses shock value into something clever and fun rather than just resting on its laurels by merely being ribald and calling it a day.
Well, most of the time. This is the episode where Roman reveals that he's a character who's never going to soften or deepen, like Kyle did in the previous episode. This entry fully unshackles him, allowing him to blossom into the unmitigated prick that he will remain throughout the series rather than just an obnoxious pedant. This will serve him well in the future, but some of the punchlines he delivers here are among the sourest he ever delivers, and have aged the poorest to boot.
Though, what else would one expect from Roman in an episode where the entire premise is to force its characters to confront their relationship to sex? Here, the intrepid Party Down crew find themselves in the mix with a group of porn stars, directors, and producers who are celebrating after their big industry awards ceremony. The inhibitions in the room are the lowest they've ever been, and everyone involved has the idea of sex shoved directly into their face, quite literally in some cases.
Although most of the guest stars are just-barely-but-not-quite household names (save Ken Jeong in the first and less interesting of his two appearances as Party Down owner Alan Duk), the ensemble of partygoers around the main cast has never been more likable or interesting. Beth Dover is unexpectedly sharp as the dangerously intoxicated Cramsey, who deadpans her increasingly alarming life story to Henry. Mather Zickel is also superb as Guy Stennislaus, the absurdly peculiar producer who scouts Ron's penis at the urinals. His bizarre vocal inflections and angular physical carriage bring him right up to the line of being a live-action cartoon, and all this serves to make his ultimate, twistedly quotidian punchline even funnier. Hell, even a one-line drunkard with a New Jersey accent ("use your hand to slap it around") is firing on all cylinders here.
While this episode uses these characters to its advantage, firmly planting its flag as to the comic identity of the show in doing so, it does all come somewhat at the cost of having the main cast volley around one another quite as smoothly as they usually do. For one thing, Jane Lynch's Constance is barely in this episode, only appearing in a few moments opposite Mr. Duk without much of anything to do, though she - naturally - squeezes an excellent comic moment out of effortlessly matching Casey's energy when she whirls in after taking a tab of ecstasy.
The rest of the cast are given their own funny bits (except for Roman, whose arc is just kind of mean), but they're mostly siloed out into their own stories without interacting much with the others. Ryan Hansen is coasting on his Cool Guy flirting mode here, and while Ron's storyline is laugh-out-loud funny, it's not taxing Ken Marino one bit.
At least Casey and Henry get to have fun for once, which is always a delight, as he chases around a man who might give him a tab of ecstasy while she bumbles around the room, absolutely rolling. The sexual tension everywhere in the room underlines their struggle to really get together and bang out the proper balance of love and lust. This ecstasy storyline is also much more interesting and layered than the pot subplot in "Pepper McMasters Single Seminar."
Ultimately, the show would figure out how to combine great guest stars with excellent moments with every cast member and tightly plotted arcs with thematic throughlines, but for now this episode is merely very funny. And very funny is exactly what it's supposed to be, so really who can complain?
Rating: A-
Brennan Klein is a millennial who knows way more about 80's slasher movies than he has any right to. He's a former host of the Attack of the Queerwolf podcast and a current senior movie/TV news writer at Screen Rant. You can find his other reviews on his blog Popcorn Culture. Follow him on Twitter or Letterboxd, if you feel like it.
Categories: television
