The first twelve or so minutes of this episode of Selfie is pretty predictable comedy set-up: it’s Henry’s birthday, and he doesn’t like gifts, so Eliza decides to get him a gift. Hilarity ensues, and Henry ends up at a Blues Traveler concert while Eliza organizes a surprise birthday party at Henry’s house – from beginning to almost-the-end, “Traumatic Party Stress Disorder” is average comedic far, heightened with Selfie‘s penchant for great dialogue… but nothing special or memorable, traits one could also apply to the last few, much better, minutes without much argument for me. However, how those final minutes are framed, and how it gives depth to a completely unecessary and clearly short-lived character in the process, make “Traumatic” a better episode than one of this kind really has any right to be – which in the end, is disappointing, since Selfie‘s been canceled and I watched this episode on Hulu Plus.
But there’s no use complaining about Selfie‘s decided fate – at the very least, “Traumatic Party Stress Disorder” is the first episode of Selfie since the pilot that really brings Henry and Eliza closer in poignant fashion, something subtly achieved by the episode’s opening segment, where Eliza Instagrams pictures of her lonely childhood birthday party. When the episode comes full-circle, Henry’s complaining that Eliza pushed him to have a birthday he didn’t want to have (after his girlfriend, flustered by his sudden outburt of emotion, leaves the Blues Traveler concert), and asks for her to get his co-workers and friends out of his apartment. Her reaction is the turning point of the episode; she’s actually hurt by his condemnation of her birthday plans for him, but not because he’s mad at her – she’s upset because Henry’s throwing away the very thing Eliza’s been chasing, a group of people that truly care about her and want to celebrate her life.
Through the eight episodes of Selfie, there hasn’t been that connection made between her social media obsessions and her past: “Traumatic Party Stress Disorder” is the first time her behavior is given any kind of context beyond “this is how humans shouldn’t act”; never before has her behavior been so empathetic, revealing itself not as just some obsession with superficiality, but an overwhelming desire to connect with people on any level possible, even if its the most unsatisfying or abstract of places.
Sure, “Traumatic” never explicitly makes this point, simply using her frustration as fuel for Henry’s rejection of his birthday party – but the underpinnings are there, a potential thread of story for the character that is almost Nick Miller-esque in its ability to humanize the most absurd human beings (for him, it was his father, who was a lying, drinking, gambling, completely unhinged mess of a person). And what’s awesome is how this episode of Selfie does it TWICE: though nobody expects Julia to be around long, this episode gives great definition to the put-together woman, whose time in strange waters dating Henry has taken her a little too far out of her comfort zone. The way the first ten minutes of the episode were written, they looked like Allison Miller’s last on the show: but the twist where she apologizes to Henry (in turn, catalyzing his apology to Eliza) does a great job giving depth to a smaller character – one acting as a wedge between the two stars, a character that shows just don’t take seriously consistently.
So despite a frustratingly pedestrian opening act, “Traumatic Party Stress Disorder” manages to be the most impressive episode of Selfie yet, one that feels ambitious on an emotional level where other episodes to this date have played it safe. Of course, since Selfie‘s already canceled, it may not feel like this matters much – but at the very least, we got to see John Cho sing Blues Traveler (which also gave us the first on-screen John Popper sighting since probably the mid-90’s), and watch Selfie begin to harness the potential it displayed back in the pilot.
Photo via ABC
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