‘Broad City’
Grade: A-
“Broad City” stuck the landing in the Comedy Central show’s season 2 finale.
This was thanks in part to the way the episode was cogently composed as a finale.
For one, the season ended with Ilana’s birthday, which mirrored the first season’s end with Abbi’s birthday. This was a good move overall because it is a smart, fan-pleasing repetition, a great premise to a season finale — as they already knew — and could promise a sentimental conclusion to the series.
The only drawback to this callback is it forced a comparison to the first season finale. If you need reminding, it’s hard to beat Ilana’s shellfish-swollen face and Abbi’s adrenaline-wracked, slow-motion rampage for the restaurant door while carrying Ilana’s body through chaos to the tune of “Ave Maria.”
This is not to say this newest finale is without merits. Co-creators Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson showed off their dual skills as lead actresses and head writers of the episode.
They set the episode exclusively in New York City’s St. Mark’s in all its eclectic and reveling glory. Abbi promises Ilana a dinner with quality wine and the promise “You deserve a bottle, not a box.”
After their fancy reservation — under the pseudonym “Lil Wayne” — is called, the classic “Broad City” comic cringe-fest begins with the first of several cameos that set the episode apart.
Aidy Bryant of “Saturday Night Live” joined Upright Citizens Brigade’s Conner O’Malley as Allie and Chris. They play our heroes’ insufferable acquaintances who ask why they don’t respond to their Facebook event invites.
Viewers were also treated to drag queen Jiggly Caliente as a wig shop vendor who sold some ruby faux hair to Ilana before Abbi’s gift bag for the birthday girl was snatched by a broody delinquent. An epic chase punctuated by Abbi’s bleeped-out threats ensues. Abbi and Ilana are then led into the home where the thief sought refuge.
Patricia Clarkson briefly steals the limelight as the alcoholic psychiatrist mother of the 34-year-old grad school dropout who robbed Abbi. Clarkson’s cameo is good enough reason for me to watch this episode again and again.
For anyone less obsessed, I’d highly recommend appreciating how wonderfully New York City truly stars in this episode.
Making farce of the Big Apple is a huge part of the appeal of this show. The antics of the ins and outs of St. Mark’s in this episode, even the strange happenings in the background, make the world of “Broad City” shine.
When the show pokes fun at life in NYC, it is almost like an inside joke for New Yorkers. Except it is still presented in such a hilarious and outlandish way that it carries humor for outsiders, too.
This was certainly a birthday and episode for the books as the show carefully played to its strong suits to finish the season with panache, spunk and “jizzy jazz.”
