You’re the Worst Review: Genetically Inferior Beta Males (Season 3 Episode 8)
On You’re the Worst Season 3 Episode 7, “Genetically Inferior Beta Males,” Samira Wiley is back as Gretchen’s therapist, and once again, Gretchen is not making it easy for her to do her job.
When questioned whether the loss Jimmy has been doing through might have made Gretchen think about her own parents, in particular her mother, Gretchen quickly finds something else to focus on than talking about her issues, and decides to try to “help her friends.”
Not much is known about Gretchen’s parents, but it seems that her mother and her controlling and manipulative parenting might have left a mark on Gretchen. Calling her mother “a baller-ass boss,” Gretchen says that she was lucky to have a parent like that because it made her strong rather than an “unmotivated baby” like her friends that she now deems are clearly in need of her assistance.
Who could the “unmotivated babies” be in Gretchen’s inner circle?
Perhaps Jimmy, who is shying away from the responsibility his upcoming writing deadline brings? Or Lindsay, who thinks it is a good idea to have a black man naked on top of her while her husband Paul reads the news out loud in the same room? Or Edgar, who is making “Dr. Weed” videos in their kitchen?
Gretchen: Maybe if they had a mom like mine they wouldn’t be the pieces of shit they are currently.
“Jimmy’s spectacular zoo of wonder and animal friends plus cinnabons (no Edgars allowed)” sounds like a truly fantastic place to spend time at. Too bad it’s not real, but rather a world Jimmy has built for himself on “Zoo Entrepreneur.”
It’s also too bad that Jimmy’s on a deadline and playing the game is not helping his writing process. Gretchen, on a mission to be maternal, takes away Jimmy’s access to the internet in a attempt to force him to focus on his writing.
Unable to write, Jimmy goes to the reservoir close to his house. It is interesting to see Jimmy alone in a setting like this because we so often see him within the constraints of the house or as a part of a group. He howls with dogs (literally!), tries to start a conversation about Mr. Robot (unsuccessfully!), and plays basketball (with bad results!)
It is unfortunate the reservoir scenes are cut short because they could have made an interesting, most likely hilarious, episode. We could have dug a little deeper and explored where Jimmy is emotionally after the memorial.
Later on, Jimmy decides to continue trying new things by promising to appear on Vernon’s podcast. VERY surprisingly, it seems Vernon’s podcast actually has listeners. And what makes this set-up even more surprising is the fact that Vernon’s co-host is Becca, who actually seems supportive of Vernon’s venture into podcasting.
While it is good to see Vernon and Becca happy, I couldn’t help but wish that they start bickering because the dynamic between the two has generated some great laughs within the previous two and half seasons of the show.
The podcast scene, which could have easily become one of the laugh-out-loud moments of the episode, actually gains a note of seriousness when Vernon and Becca question Jimmy about his father and the importance of getting closure. Jimmy, who has a tendency to brush away serious questions with a joke and a laugh, seems uncharacteristically honest.
The podcast scene also brings up the fact that Jimmy only became a writer to make his father angry. Now that his father is gone, maybe his writing block is a result of the fact that writing won’t serve the same function for him anymore.
Lindsay: I just want to be normal and cheat on my husband without feeling guilty about it.
Lindsay, who is still struggling to find the right kind of relationship to have with Paul, is advised by Gretchen to take control of her life and to not to come back to her before she has done that. It feels like Lindsay is constantly grasping at straws, trying to come up with ways to keep Paul close, yet distant on an intimate level.
Sometimes it is hard to remember why she even tries to work things out with him, mostly because her pregnancy hasn’t been brought up in the last few episodes.
Paul, a man of research, makes his own interpretations of cucking (Lindsay’s wish to have him watch while she has sex with other men), which results in actions Lindsay wasn’t perhaps looking for when making Paul agree to her whims. So while Paul delivers her Raul and Raul’s friend, Lindsay trying to enjoy herself while watching Paul wearing his “cock cage” kind of kills the mood.
I desperately want to believe that Lindsay and Paul can make it work, mainly because there is something extremely intriguing in the pairing of two people so different from each other. I do have to admit that this back and forth between the two is getting kind of old.
Paul is so clearly agreeing to Lindsay’s wishes to save their family, while Lindsay just seems to enjoy being in control and gaining an audience for her sexual dreams. While she might not do it on purpose, Lindsay is definitely leading Paul on.
Edgar, most likely channeling what he learned in improv class, has created a new character called Dr. Weed. When Gretchen finds out about Edgar’s venture, she adopts the role of a wannabe pageant mom and starts to mold Edgar’s Dr. Weed image, determined to turn it into something big.
Edgar, who clearly is used to getting orders (he was a soldier after all), follows Gretchen’s lead and very quickly becomes extremely docile and ready to act just as Gretchen wants him to. Not having the control of his own life, even when it comes to something like the production of his Dr. Weed show, feels like a step back for Edgar, who has been doing fairly well after his break down a few episodes ago.
Luckily, the control Gretchen has over Edgar does not last for long.
The segment about pot and PTSD, that Gretchen believed they were doing for a journalist, ends up being something completely different. As a result of the mishap, Edgar has unwillingly become one of the “pot people,” meaning pot activists who, according to Edgar, “leech off of people with legitimate problems.”
By trying to help those around her, like her mother used to “help” her, Gretchen is unable to see the fact that, first of all, none of them are asking for her help, and, second of all, maybe her methods of helping are not actually working.
Once all her friends have turned their backs on her, Gretchen stalks her therapist again and, within the final minute of the episode, we finally see her opening up. Talking about a tennis match she didn’t win by enough and a night spent with no sheets, Gretchen comes to the realization that her mother and her actions are one of the original sources for her depression.
She now was something to talk about, something to connect her depression with, but is she willing to do that?
It feels like in “Genetically Inferior Beta Males,” You’re the Worst is trying to balance way too many plotlines, which makes the episode lack direction. A whole episode could have been written solely about Jimmy’s day or about Lindsay and Paul, and while the episode starts and ends with Gretchen, it feels like she is not really that present in it.
Looking back at the previous seven episodes of the third season, this definitely feels like the weakest link.
Which direction will You’re the Worst take next? Since there is so much going in the lives of all of its principal characters, it seems like episodes that are more heavily focused on one individual character work better than something like this episode, which just tries to jam too much into an episode under 25 minutes in length.
It’s not a bad episode, don’t get me wrong, it just doesn’t reach the brilliance of some of the previous episodes that have proceeded it.
What did you think of this episode of You’re the Worst? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Reviewer Rating:
User Rating:
You’re the Worst airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FXX.
Milka Väinämö
Milka is a Master of Arts with degrees in Film, Theatre, and Media Studies. She is obsessed with American sitcoms, ice hockey, pizza, coffee, and all things true crime. Her favorite shows include Parks and Recreation, The Office, Community, Arrested Development, Seinfeld, and The Gilmore Girls.