S02.E06: Doppelbanger

[absnow54]

Episode Description:

Quote

Bela seizes an opportunity when a late-night comic visits campus. Kimberly attempts to prove she hasn't been "med-zoned" by Jackson. Whitney fights to contribute to a group assignment. Leighton pursues a junior... who reminds her of herself.

All of the sexual relationships starting out as antagonistic is getting kind of repetitive, but I'm actually feeling Whitney and her biochem partner. They'll never last more than a few episodes, and he genuinely seems like an a-hole, but that "Oh, damn, he's hot" moment when he took off his sweater, was a very relatable.

I'm kind of bummed that Bela and Eric decided to become an actual couple before she slept with late-night guy. Her using sex to advance her career is a big enough conflict on its own, so I'm disappointed they added cheating on top of that, because I kind of like them together.

Edited December 1, 2022 by absnow54

[aghst]

I don't know, Bela becoming jealous of Eric dating other girls reveals some human vulnerability for a change instead of the cringey character she's been -- a very chatty and very DTF girl, like the women in pornos.

Bela wants to have a feminist version of the college humor magazine but gave 6 hand jobs to get on The Catullan?  Gloria Steinham wept.

Even if she's dating the guy, she'll probably continue to be over the top about sex.

The obvious connection one could make is that she's a stand in for Kaling herself, an Indian-American girl at a Ivy league school, focused on breaking into big time comedy.  Did Kaling have a similar overbearing personality or did she wish she was like that back in college?

Kimberly had some cramping after donating eggs and Jackson takes care of her.  It's suppose to be winter in New England but he's always shirtless.  I guess it's going to be a slow-burn for them as a couple.

Leighton is a math nerd but also a narcissist.  She comes across a tall blond who's standoffish and looks down on people.  So she's all anxious about meeting her.

Whitney's story is boring. She doesn't feel anything about Canaan breaking up with her.  She just enjoys Organic Chemistry and wants to do well in it.  Apparently though she's in the only university-level org chem class without dealing with the chemical reactions which make it such a difficult subject.

[Irlandesa]

12 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I'm kind of bummed that Bela and Eric decided to become an actual couple before she slept with late-night guy. Her using sex to advance her career is a big enough conflict on its own, so I'm disappointed they added cheating on top of that, because I kind of like them together.

Same.  I was hoping the guy would turn her down. 

1 hour ago, aghst said:

I guess it's going to be a slow-burn for them as a couple.

Slow burn?  They were jumping into bed at the end of this episode. 

I did love that Kimberly coached Lia on getting the manager's job only for Lia to decide she wants to be a diligent manager.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Hey, it's Duffy from Four Weddings and a Funeral.

OMG Canaan! What did you do to your hair??! Noooooooo.

😱😱😱

Edited December 2, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[Empress1]

21 hours ago, aghst said:

Whitney's story is boring.

It is. They need to find her something to do. She’s got a crush on her lab partner, which, okay, I guess, but it’s boring.

[WAnglais1]

I don't think I can watch this show any longer. The whole Bela thing. "I want to be a comedy writer, but I'll give hand jobs and bang whoever can get me on my career path," is boring and insulting to women. If the Comedy!Boyfriend finds out about this, is he gonna shrug it off or will it be another, "Honestly, I don't get you, Bela! We're over." "Take off your pants!" He instantly disrobes. 

It's hard to like characters who seem to have no sense of self or self respect.

[gesundheit]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:07 AM, absnow54 said:

I'm kind of bummed that Bela and Eric decided to become an actual couple before she slept with late-night guy. Her using sex to advance her career is a big enough conflict on its own, so I'm disappointed they added cheating on top of that, because I kind of like them together.

I watched the last two episodes pretty far apart and literally only just remembered when reading your comment that she has an official boyfriend making this cheating. Oops! (Guess she forgot too.)

I appreciate that they're telling a story about young women using the only "advantage" the world tells them they have over young men to get ahead, but I don't think they did enough to show how desperate she was. She's a college freshman and the late-night dude was already open to her as an intern, this isn't exactly "years of trying to get ahead in this field and constantly being beaten out by men."

On 12/1/2022 at 8:36 PM, aghst said:

Kimberly had some cramping after donating eggs and Jackson takes care of her.  It's suppose to be winter in New England but he's always shirtless.

Is it still supposed to be winter? I'm so confused because Kimberly already went through the full egg donation process and the campus is lush green again and folks are in light jackets. In Vermont. But somehow this season started post-Thanksgiving? Are we in the next semester and we missed it? (I know, I'm overthinking it)

Leighton's twincest story is funny and that is such a real thing, although a lot of people never leave that "phase" and it's just creepy. I know a lot of couples like that and they always tell stories about hotel clerks or something thinking they're sisters or brothers and they roll their eyes like it's heteronormative ignorance when I'm like, "Or, it's that you look like twins."

[DearEvette]

Yeah, the weather/time of the year thing is bothering me.  Did we just skip over Christmas break then?  Last thing I remember they were at Canaan's frat party is was Christmas themed and then bam, it was all green trees and people walking around without coats.

“I know this is a silly question to ask a white person, but do you own a tennis racket.”  Ha!

Canaan's hair is tragic.  Dude.  Do better.

Honestly, I am finding Leighton's storyline my least favorite.  One Leighton is enough,  her desperately pursuing a girl even more pretentious than herself is meh to me.

But I do agree they need to give Whitney something else to do besides throwing her a line or two an episode.  She is being underwritten.  Kimberly has like three storyines going on and Bela has a couple as well.  Heck, Lila seems to have  more story than Whitney.

[Traveller519]

This is the second time Bela has taken Leighton's advice and twisted it in her own mind to "sleep your way to the top" ("make them like you" in the pilot and " make sure he remembers you" here).

Indo think that both times she saw it as a hail Mary with things slipping away from her. I was glad that Dan wasn't a complete jerk and genuinely seemed to be down to support both Bela and Eric. We already had the jerk alum story. It just sucks that she made the worst decision. Hopefully there's some reckoning for her.