The final two episodes of Playing House‘s all-too-brief second season are torn between the show’s ambitions and its short running time. Both “Officer of the Year” and “Celebrate Me Scones” want to feel like a culmination of the 16 episodes preceding them, but the busy narratives of both episodes make them incongruent with the character material building on said events. They’re still extremely funny, occasionally moving episodes, but as a coda to a fantastic second season, the season-ending doubleheader feels flat in its climatic moments.
Of the two, “Officer of the Year” suffers the most, returning to the Policeman’s Ball from Season 1’s “Spaghetti and Meatballs” to much lesser results. The first time around, Emma and Maggie organizing the Policeman’s Ball was used to ignite a spark between Mark and Emma, one that’s continued to dominate their storylines throughout the second season, save for the few episodes Mark hasn’t appeared in. Her relationship with Rabbi Dan, while cute, was earmarked for defeat the moment he entered the narrative. Anytime a character starts dating someone while their feelings are conflicted about another, it’s bad news for the new cast member (just ask any girl Ted dated throughout the entire series of How I Met Your Mother). And how this all comes to a head is cute, but weightless, especially when the episode splits their conflict with Ben and Maggie having a great night together at the ball.
The inclusion of both those stories in that episode puts them at odds with each other: Emma’s is about the dissolution of her relationship with Rabbi Dan (which basically happens with a shrug of the shoulders, flaming out in an instant when Emma embraces her feelings for Mark), and Maggie’s is about the comfort of love from the past, him helping her get over her fear of being intimate again after becoming a mother. In terms of pure storytelling value, Maggie’s story demands attention. There’s wisps of interesting ideas with Emma and Mark, but “Officer of the Year” is working through so many rom-com cliches that it gets lost in the mix. Maggie’s brief reunion with her ex-husband is so much richer, and feels much more organic to the events occurring around everyone at the gala. After dancing the night away (which is where they admit they were at their best), Maggie and Bruce spend the night together, before he happily leaves in the morning after a mature conversation about their feelings. It’s stunning how smoothly “Officer” pulls Maggie’s story off, doubly so considering how much it’s placed in the shadow of Emma’s louder and significantly more predictable love triangle. There’s so much meaning in Bruce and Maggie’s last scene together, while Emma and Rabbi Dan’s breakup is completely off screen, a half-season long relationship tossed away with a cavalier line.
The ineffectiveness of Emma’s plot in “Officer” is highlighted even further by how well “Color Me Scones” handles her character. Although “Scones” gets a little too fragmented trying to have its fun with guest stars Kenny Loggins, Stephanie Weir, and Pamela Adlon (!!!), it finds itself when it pauses to reflect on the year Maggie and Emma have spent together. Maggie’s plan to have Kenny read her letter to Emma during the concert doesn’t come to fruition, but it doesn’t need to: seeing the two of them hug it out, celebrating the 12 months they’ve lived together (while in a holding cell, no less) is a rewarding moment, no matter how much it is cut off by Mark appearing and being a jerk in a great wig.
In that way, “Scones” feels a little more aligned with the priorities of a season finale, though it still feels Playing House is trying to have it both ways, committing to neither a dramatic or reassuring two-part season (and possibly series) ender. It teases a number of changes to its status quo, but hides behind the larger external events of the episode from actually enacting any of these – even when it’s delivering small, powerful little moments reflecting on the friendship of its main characters, and where they are on the journey they embarked on together a year ago. And while it doesn’t deliver anything as hilarious or poignant as the first time they attended a Policeman’s Ball or dressed up as Bosephus and Bandana, both episodes are still pleasant little codas to Playing House‘s second season, suggesting at the potential of what a third season could hold, while offering one more dose of the quirky, heartwarming personality that makes Playing House such a fun show to watch. Let’s hope it’s not the last.
Other thoughts/observations:
– Here’s to hoping USA doesn’t play with our hearts, and renews Playing House sooner rather than later.
– “I know why the caged bird sings… and you can suck on this one!” Good comeback, Emma?
– “My jets are so cold, they don’t even beef with the Sharks no more.” Best West Side Story reference since Scrubs?
– Stuart McDonald’s direction in “Officer of the Year” really energizes this episode. Two favorite shots: when the camera pans up from a pile of ties to Maggie’s face, and when we see Maggie looking at Emma in a mirror, while Emma looks back at her through the mirror.
– Bruce’s maturity about his night with Emma might be the most mature thing that’s ever happened in that situation in television history.
– No comedy writer can resist a food pun.
– These two episodes pushed Playing House to the limit of how many ‘body roll’ references could be made in a single episode; while I love it, Maggie needs a new dance next season.
– Thanks for joining me through Playing House‘s second season. Hopefully, I’ll be back to talk more about it in 2016!
[Photo via USA Network]
Follow Us
Great insights, I wish Season 2 could’ve been longer!!! Also, quick correction: Maggie’s ex-husband’s name is Bruce.