“Mochalatta Chills” is an episode of Broad City that feels about five minutes too short (or ten minutes too long, depending on how you look at it). For the most part, the premises of both Ilana and Abbi’s stories provide funny, entertaining backdrops for Broad City zaniness – however, the episode just kind of drops off in its third act, wrapping things up with a neat bow without a whole lot to show for it except some well-disguised product placement, and some hilarious one-liners.
The problem with the episode comes from the sources of conflict; neither the gym or the office have been consistently funny segments for Broad City, working best when they act as vague societal reflections of various things. This is best seen in “Mochalatta Chills”, which turns Ilana into a machine of White Power in a white power suit, after she hires three unpaid, minority interns to make her money. On the surface, this is obviously a hilarious idea; however, the underlying drama of Ilana’s job being at stake never really takes hold, because she’s proven time and time again she doesn’t really care about her job. Not the point of the story, but it feels like a sitcom plot that’s all punchline and no resolution; she makes some money, fires the interns (two of three she definitely made out with), and walks away without the stench of slavery on her; while Broad City resolutions are never overtly poignant or reflective (those moments are often found in their smallest jokes), the end of Ilana’s story feels more like blank space than a punctuation.
Abbi’s story, on the other hand, suffers from too much Bevers, who remains the one frustrating element on Broad City. Outside of a joke here or there (mostly revolving around how he’s a fat slob), Bevers is just not an entertaining character. He’s a fat white guy that can be plopped onto a couch for easy jokes – and when the best of them is the recurring “you don’t live here!” bit, it doesn’t make much of what he does worth paying attention to. Yes, the workout montage is hilarious (nothing more than Abbi lubing her lip), but again, there isn’t a whole lot to this beyond the irony of Abbi’s “big break” (that she doesn’t actually want, still clinging to the idea of being an illustrator) being tied to the person she hates the most.
What “Mochalatta Chills” amounts to are some funny one-liners and a weightless reflection on the modern nature of “the intern” – but “I have a business degree from Cornell; that’s the worst Ivy League school!” is as far as “Mochalatta” is willing to go with any of its reflections. Doesn’t mean the episode isn’t funny; it just lacks the memorable resolutions and revelatory moments that define the most essential Broad City episodes.
[Photo via Comedy Central]
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