I couldn’t watch Greek in my usual viewing location, so I had to watch it in my old dorm’s TV lounge. Another person joined me, someone who had never watched the show, but who was willing to watch anything to kill an hour. So, I observed someone new to the Greek universe watching the show. And realized one of Greek’s finer attributes is the sometimes poor writing.
My guest wasn’t a huge fan of the show — he criticized many a portion of it — but he also followed along. He predicted several scenes well-before they unfolded, and quickly picked up on which character filled which role on the show (mainly, Ashleigh is the idiot). He may not have been the biggest fan, but this week’s episode pulled him in, even if I doubt he’ll ever flip this on ever again. I’ve long-criticized Greek’s less-than-tolerable writing, but my experience this week showed me that it serves a valuable purpose: it allows anyone to get into the show at any juncture in time. If Greek was extremely well-written, one would probably have to have prior knowledge of the series to watch it and understand what was going on. People can’t just flip on Lost or 24 and expect to be immersed in it, they need to know what happened before.
But Greek isn’t like that at all. It isn’t a complex show, something I’ve always sorta-faulted it for, but now I realize that isn’t a bad thing. Watching an episode ofThe Wire requires knowledge of what has happened before that particular episode to truly understand what’s going on. If you want to watch a series like that, you either need to have been following it from the beginning or devote an entire weekend to watching DVDs of older seasons to get caught-up (off-topic: how do people have time to do that? Do they ever, you know, do anything interesting with their lives?). You could watch older episodes of Greek, but not doing so wouldn’t leave you confused. You realize Evan’s an asshole in a second. I now appreciate Greek as being a simple show anyone can enjoy. The things you learn when you watch a show with a random person.
Summary
Casey is studying for an LSAT practice test, and turns to “friend” Evan for help. She ends up doing well on the test, and the two have dinner together to celebrate. Evan sets Casey up with an interview with the dean of admissions at Harvard Law School. Rusty gets a fake ID, and stumbles into all sorts of problems when a bartender mistakes him for a famous underground folk singer. Ashleigh gets a credit card and, being the idiot she is, does stupid things with it. Next week – Spring Break!
Representations of College
- Casey’s revelation at the end of the episode that she doesn’t want to get into law and has no clue what she wants to do with her life rings painfully close to home. It’s easy to forget at a pre-professionally heavy school like Northwestern, but plenty of college students are mighty confused about what they want to do with their lives. I include myself in this category, so Casey’s awakening touched me in a way only so many fictitious TV shows have.
- Fake I.s: people have them. Especially in college. Uhhhh, good job Greek, I wish I had more to say on the matter.
- No college student, even at the most remedial university in the country, could possibly be as stupid as Ashleigh is. Seriously, show me someone dumber than her. I dare you.
- With that said, it can be pretty hard to avoid signing up for credit cards in college when they offer so much swag. I once signed up for some Visa card to get a free pizza at Giordano’s. And the line inside the restaurant signaled I wasn’t alone.
- No bar located near a college campus would ever play Tokyo Police Club. Also, I’m stunned Greek featured a band I actually like. What’s happening to the world?
- Last week, I harped on the show’s refusal to acknowledge Facebook. Well, they actually featured a Facebook-like website this week, though Rusty described it as a college profile. Bravo Greek.
Greek’s Bad Writing In Action
- “Slow down Spendy Gonzalez.” Casey talking with Ashleigh about her credit card abuse. Some positvies come out of Greek’s bad writing, but it also spawns lines like this.
- Not related to this week’s episode, but if the preview for the season finale offers any truth, the writers better not have Casey and Cappie kiss. Don’t fall back on stories you guys exhausted already!
Closing Question – What band that I actually enjoy will be featured next in Greek? Is Tokyo Police Club now cursed?