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Rooster<\/a><\/p>\n Mr. Razzles<\/p>\n \n Season 1<\/p>\n Episode 5\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 4 stars<\/p>\n ****\n <\/p>\n \n The introduction of Greg\u2019s ex-wife might feel a bit like a caricature of a selfish ex, but Connie Britton\u2019s warmth makes her a welcome presence. You know that feeling when you see an ex after a long time and instantly feel thankful that you\u2019re no longer with that person? That\u2019s how I feel for Greg this week. And, by the conclusion of the episode, I truly hope he feels the same way.<\/p>\n For a larger-than-life character, Elizabeth Stoddard\u2019s life is not very well defined. The closest anyone gets in the episode is when Walt calls her a \u201cShe-E-O\u201d in his introductory speech \u2026 and then backpedals when the joke doesn\u2019t land. The introduction of Elizabeth, or Beth as Greg calls her, is exciting because it brings the luminous Connie Britton into the mix. As written on the page, Beth mostly feels like a caricature. She visits Ludlow only because they\u2019re dedicating a new student center to her \u2014 not because her daughter is an arsonist experiencing a relationship crisis, don\u2019t be ridiculous \u2014 and she exudes busy, busy, busy energy the entire time she\u2019s in the picture, never bothering to put her family first. Gross. The only reason Beth is even a bit endearing is thanks to Britton\u2019s warm presence and light touch.<\/p>\n Throughout her visit, Beth manages to make almost everything about her. When Greg\u2019s phone goes off during her insufferable speech at the dedication of the center, she points it out loudly instead of politely ignoring it like most sensible people would do. Later, when a student notices Greg and calls out to him like he\u2019s a celebrity, Beth immediately steers the conversation back to herself, asking if either of her family members had ever gotten high in the college fountain. Of course they haven\u2019t, Beth. They\u2019re adults, not college kids.<\/p>\n When Beth sees Dylan and Greg getting chatty over his cheese board (with extra nuts, of course), she makes it known that she knows Greg better than Dylan does. To be fair, Dylan is also engaging in some territorial behaviors, like chuckling about Greg\u2019s affinity for nuts and lightly putting a hand on his arm, so keep an eye on that space. But Beth seems incapable of allowing the focus to be on anyone other than herself. Does that remind anyone of anyone else in this series? Oh! Yes! Archie! No wonder Katie married him \u2014 he\u2019s a male version of her withholding mother! (We marry our unresolved issues with our parents, folks. I don\u2019t make the rules.)<\/p>\n Archie, for his part, continues to circle back to himself every chance he gets. I\u2019m so sad that he and Beth didn\u2019t interact during her visit to the Ludlow campus, because I feel like the two of them would have just bounced off each other until they imploded into a mass of mutual self-absorption. When Sunny arrives home from her internship search, Archie doesn\u2019t ask about her at all; instead, he carries on and on about the progress he made on his book. Even Walt is taken aback when he asks Archie about Sunny\u2019s interviews and gets a non-answer. \u201cShe\u2019s a lucky girl,\u201d he quips sarcastically. But of course the comment goes right over Archie\u2019s (surprisingly buff) head. Archie is also seemingly unaware that Walt is trying to find out why Archie is so fit, and there\u2019s a really humorous moment in which Walt asks him about carbs, and Archie goes on and on about his favorites. The charming way he pronounces pasta almost redeemed him for me \u2014 man-boys with accents are particularly dangerous \u2014 but once Archie rattles off one too many delicious starchy treats, Walt flies into a jealous rage and kicks him out. That man should probably eat a slice of bread. Oprah also loves bread, Walt. It\u2019s good for you sometimes.<\/p>\n In addition to his pursuit of fitness, Walt is nervous about Beth gunning for his job. She needles him with backhanded comments about women in positions of power and how she\u2019d be really good at his job, but it\u2019s unclear how she would take on the role of college president if she\u2019s also a CEO of some kind? If Beth comes back to Ludlow, we need way more information about what it is she actually does, because CEO isn\u2019t actually a job title, nor is it a placeholder for a personality. Also, I\u2019m really sorry, but swapping out Walt for Beth would just make the show less funny overall. John C. McGinley delivers no fewer than three laughs per episode, and the overall average would just plummet. We can\u2019t have that.<\/p>\n Case in point: There\u2019s a random scene in which Greg accompanies Beth to a meeting in Walt\u2019s office, and both Beth and Dylan throw him under the bus for lying about liking hockey. Once Greg admits to being \u201ca little bit of an introvert and a liar,\u201d Walt ropes him into helping with the erratic coach, and then loudly announces that he\u2019s going to lunch. Greg points out that it\u2019s only 10:30 a.m., and Walt calmly waggles his eyebrows and says, \u201cBetrayal makes me hungry, Greg.\u201d The line reads are just off the charts on this show. If HBO is considering a renewal, a second season would be justified for the line readings alone.<\/p>\n But with the return of an ex, there are some heavy moments. Greg and Beth get into it about their relationship, and it\u2019s clear that some shizz went down between the two of them after she cheated. He claims that she slept with his only friend, which must\u2019ve hurt him more than the hockey puck he takes to the face later in the episode, and she claims that she has a big life (so we\u2019ve heard) and that she couldn\u2019t be his everything. I get both sides! I really do! Yet, I have to root for Greg here, because he\u2019s not the one who cheated, and he\u2019s also just generally more lovable. Is that unfair? Maybe. But he is the main character on the show, so there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n Katie is also grappling with a cheating spouse, but she is going a different route than Greg. And she\u2019s keeping it all from her dad. Katie continues to sleep with Archie, but when Sunny approaches her to apologize in the student center, she ultimately treats her like a person and calls her back to ask her how she\u2019s doing. This whole scene feels like a Bill Lawrence Special\u2122 in that this interaction would never happen in real life. (See also: Louis and literally any other character in season two of Shrinking<\/a>.) However, it does establish Sunny and Katie as another side of the love triangle as they both have justified beef with Archie toying with their hearts to bolster his own ego with zero consideration for how they\u2019re doing. Man, Archie sucks.<\/p>\n Archie sucks so much that Katie can\u2019t even admit to her dad that she\u2019s still sleeping with him. Or perhaps it\u2019s because she knows her father still holds a candle for her mom and she doesn\u2019t want him to worry about her, because she\u2019s in the same boat. In a heartbreaking beat, Katie teases her dad about having a piece of corny art on the wall, only later to find out that it\u2019s her mother in the photo. When she trots out of the kitchen, holding the frame in her hand, Beth recognizes herself and becomes uncomfortable. She bolts from the house, saying awkward good-byes and leaving Katie and Greg to hang out and joke on the couch, which is all Greg ever wanted anyway.<\/p>\n \u2022 I was with most of you lovely commenters last week, who theorized that Cristle is Tommy\u2019s mom, but now I also have a dark-horse candidate: the hockey coach. He tells Greg that his kid walked in on him jerking off in his garage and that he knows his kid thinks he\u2019s a loser. I like the Cristle theory better, but this might also be a fun reveal. Or maybe, just maybe, the hockey coach is Cristle\u2019s ex?<\/p>\n \u2022 I have not talked about the theme song, and shame on me. I love it so much, and I\u2019ve been listening to it on repeat. Did y\u2019all know that this is Michael Stipe\u2019s first song in three years?! And it\u2019s a banger. A good theme song can elevate a show to another level, and \u201cI Played the Fool\u201d definitely delivers.<\/p>\n \u2022 Archie pursuing the \u201cFOR KATIE\u201d vandal, only to have one of his students throw herself at him, wasn\u2019t a story line that worked for me at all. I\u2019m not loving the fact that \u201cwhoops, this inappropriate sexual thing happened, but it was actually a misunderstanding!\u201d seems to be a recurring thing on this show, but I\u2019m willing to forgive if no one actually gets hurt.<\/p>\n \u2022 Greg and Cristle\u2019s secret courtship had me rolling this week. Cristle is 100 percent steering that ship, and she knows the waters well. The copier boobs were a *chef\u2019s kiss* beautiful visual gag. And then, when she makes him sign both nipples? Comedy perfection. More Mumolo, always and forever.<\/p>\n \u2022 Greg doing \u201cWhazzuuuup\u201d on the phone to Beth had to be a callback to The Office<\/a>, right?<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Vulture Newsletter<\/p>\n Entertainment news, for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Katrina Marcinowski\/HBO\n <\/p>\n