Do you know that sense you get when something you’ve been following is finding its groove and becoming the best it has ever been? Like, when you first heard “Ms. Jackson” and realized Outkast was now unstoppable? Or that point in No Country For Old Men (I’ll let you choose which point) you realized it was going to be awesome?
Greek’s starting to give me that feeling.
After the best episode of the season last week, I’m suprised the clumsily-titled “47 hours and 11 minutes” promptly ripped the best-of-season title right from its hands, and signals a complete shift in the season. Greek’s second season started off strong enough, but quickly succumbed to repetitive plots and lack of character development. The show needed life support only two weeks ago, with an episode built mostly on uninspired flashbacks. I was ready to jump ship. And then, Greek tied up all the lingering loose ends last week, and is now pushing into new territory. And it’s exciting.
The key is focusing on every character, not just Casey-Cappie-Evan, as was the case early in this season. For the second straight week, Rusty had a compelling storyline and grew as a character. Dale has gone from pure comic relief to an integral character who’s growing up. The crowning achievement of this week, though, was how Rebecca, previously the most loathsome character, was handled. Somehow, the writers turned her into one of the most interesting characters on the show, a shockingly tragic figure. Save a few bad biscoti jokes, even the writing seems tighter, less relient on bad pop culture references and word play, letting situations play themselves out naturally. Next week’s episode may be the most crucial one yet (three great episodes in a row would be a first for this show), but all signs point to promising.
Summary
It’s Freshman Parents’ Weekend at Cyprus Rhodes, and the Cartwright clan is coming. Rusty’s nervous his parents won’t accept his fraternity, and hopes to trick them into thinking Kappa Tau is a service frat. Casey is more concerned with the impending visit of Rebecca’s father, a senator, to the ZBZ house, and the media attention it will bring. Rebecca, meanwhile, doesn’t know how to handle introducing Cappie to her father, and Cappie seems slightly put off by this. Dale discovers he doesn’t enjoy spending as much time with his family as he once did.
Representation of College
- The folks visiting their offspring’s college is inevitable and awkward, making it an easy target for a campus-based show. Greek didn’t squander this gimme, nailing all the uncomfortable details and fears of mom and pop’s trip to the univeristy. Big points to that fear that one of your parents will bring up an uncomfortable issue like politics; I break into cold sweats whenever my mom utters the word “government.”
- A pro-Greek system episode that didn’t irritate me. Usually, they take on way too much of a holier-than-thou attitude towards the Greek community. But this time around, it came off very rational and open-minded.
- Tour guides really are awkward.
Greek’s Bad Writing In Action
- Maybe the most well-written (or least stupid, I don’t know) episode of the show yet. My only complaint comes from the show utilizing the old TV standby of “the daughter looks like the dad, the son looks like the mom” trick. It has just been done to death. Why can’t more shows be like The Jetsons, where the children looked absolutely nothing like the parents?
Closing Question – Can they keep it up? And where was Calvin?