Quick Thoughts: HAPPY ENDINGS, "Everybody Loves Grant"

There have been episodes of Happy Endings that had me rolling with laughter, and there have been some that didn't hit the mark, but "Everybody Loves Grant" was the first one to make me feel uncomfortable from start to finish. God bless James Wolk for having the be the center of one of the craziest, all of the place installments to date. He was such a good sport for putting up with what he had to.

I know that some of this shows charm is the fact that it's about a group of friends who aren't necessarily the nicest people in the world, but their antics tonight were a little too much to handle. After a while, everyone fawning over Grant got annoying, and the fight between Penny, Jane and Brad about couples dating and cheating was grating right off the bat and just spiraled out of control towards the end of it all. I can see how these scenes should have been funny, but it all became a clusterfrick of cluelessness, insensitivity and shallowness. Those are not the kinds of qualities I look in characters that I'm supposed to care about.

Max's insecurities about dating someone better than him was also a pretty cliched moment, but it did make him more human because I'm sure many of us have had similar thoughts before. His self-doubt was also responsible for one of the stronger elements of the episode which were the scenes between him and Alex. I'm starting to see this pairing as one of the strongest of the bunch because Adam Pally and Elisha Cuthbert work so well together, but their characters also feel like their kindred spirits. When these two are together, it's pretty much guaranteed laughter. Also, his need to find a fault in Grant may have been childish, but it did lead to the best moment which was when Grant lost it and admitted that he's needy but likes the fact that Max doesn't care what people think of him. Good stuff from Wolk and Pally.

Dave's need to be the cool guy of the group also came off as kind of desperate, but that was apparently the theme of the night. I have a bad feeling that people will point to this storyline as another example of how Zachary Knighton's the weakest link, and it would be hard to argue, but I still think Dave has a lot of potential. The writer's just need to figure out how to use him better.

Lines of the Night:

• "We'll be the friendliest people he's ever 'met.' Damn it!"
• "Para hoy!"
• "I don't care who sees this."
• "I can't help it, I love the sound of bones crunching. I feel like a god. I can destroy life."
• "Why is he still wearing his shirt?"
• "Grant-astic Voyage!"
• Grant: "Max, I am not strong like you are. I care too much of what people think of me. You don't care about anything, and I'm so lucky to have you, but I can't try to impress your friends anymore."
  Max: "Grant, you don't have to try impress my friends. You've already won me over, who cares what these idiots think?"
• "IMPENETRABLE!"

I'm not ready to declare that "Everybody Loves Grant" was the worst episode yet because they're are a few from Season 1 vying for that title, but it was one of the weaker ones which is shame since "St. Valentine's Day Maxssacre" was so strong. I did laugh more tonight than I did during Cougar Town, so at least I can still claim that it's still the funniest comedy on ABC.