The Grinder Review: For the People (Season 1 Episode 20)
Everyone’s lying in this episode of The Grinder. And it’s hilarious.
Sometimes (most times) this show is deep and meaningful while still being very funny. Tonight, though, the message was pushed aside a little bit, and The Grinder went for full out laughs. It’s not a tactic the show has tried often, and yet it’s one that if (when, please, when) they get a new season, they should really consider going for most often.
Because it works.
This isn’t a shocker, a comedy being able to get laughs out of people. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? And yet, The Grinder has played the game of smart comedy for its entire run, and, in a way, that may have scared some viewers who can’t or don’t equate smart with funny.
Of course, those viewers are dead wrong, but hey, we’re not in the business of judging people for what they want to see. We are, however, in the business of telling people when they’re missing out on a great thing.
Like The Grinder.
You know the difference between smart comedy and regular comedy? Smart comedies don’t contradict themselves for laughs. Smart comedies don’t risk characterization for a cheap thrill. Smart comedies are, above all things, smart. Yes, they might employ some of the same tricks from time to time, but they’re always hyper aware of the consequences.
Everyone’s lying in this episode of The Grinder. They all have their reasons. Stewart and Debbie don’t want the other to feel bad. Dean wants his mother to be proud of him, for once. Dean Sr. just wants to feel important. Claire feels sorta bad for Dean, and so on. The reasons might all seem a little absurd, but they’re all very real. We often lie to spare other people. We lie because we’re embarrassed, and we lie because we want people to love us. We lie, and characters lie. That makes them real. It makes them like us.
And it makes us keep watching. If you’re not, you should be. And if you are, you should be raising your voice high and telling people how much you love this show. It could use our help.
We’ll start the chant: We love The Grinder. We want a Season 2. Pretty please, Fox? Pretty please?
Other things to note:
- The whole dialogue when Dean and Stewart are talking about harassment is pure comedic gold. That could almost be used to teach the class in law school.
- Claire is HUMAN! She proves it by going along with Dean’s ridiculous lie.
- Poor Todd. Didn’t anyone think to fill him in? He surely would have gone along with it.
- We could feel Stewart’s embarrassment as his parents started making out.
- Lizzie and Ethan were especially hilarious in this episode. It’s good to see them involved in what’s going on.
- The weird dynamic between Dean and Stewart’s parents kind of explains how they turned out. Dean is his father’s favorite, Stewart his mother’s.
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The Grinder airs Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c on Fox.
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz
Lawyer. Writer. Columnist. Geek. Falls in madly in love with fictional characters. Hates the color yellow, misogyny, and people who are late. Can always be found with a book. Watches an absurd amount of TV every week, often, while eating coffee ice cream. She has no regrets. You can check out her blog here: Absurday. Lissete is a senior writer for Tell-Tale TV. Follow @lizziethat