You’re the Worst Review: Fog of War, Bro (Season 4 Episode 5)
It’s not easy to maintain prolonged tension in a comedy. The humor in that comes from the anticipation and that’s only possible for so long. At a certain point, that tension has to dissipate. That’s what’s so impressive about You’re the Worst Season 4 Episode 5 “Fog of War, Bro”: the tension is waiting for the ticking time bomb known as Gretchen to explode.
Honestly, you could spend an entire season of You’re the Worst dealing with all of the separate ways that Gretchen is playing psychological mind games.
“Fog of War, Bro” is most notable as an episode in the ways that, for arguably the first time this season, the plot is pivoting back to Gretchen and Jimmy as the main characters we’re following. The previous episodes this season have largely dealt with Lindsey’s life and, by extension, Edgar’s, also.
Lindsey is the sun and everyone else is caught in her orbit.
In “Fog of War, Bro,” however, the focus swings firmly back to Jimmy and Gretchen and the unending, awkward uncertainty that they have found themselves embroiled in. Well, at least for Jimmy. Gretchen is the one here who has chosen and embraced the chaos, forcing it upon everyone else.
It’s not entirely clear why Gretchen is gaslighting Lindsey or scaring Edgar with, as he puts it, “Japanese ghost” cosplay, but she is completely going for it. Strangely, the one she is most civil with, at least until the end, is Jimmy
She is legitimately not going to sabotage his interview with People — a perfect skewering of the recent “Pivot-to-Video” trend — right up to the point that he accidentally informs her clients that she never went to Europe. At that point, all rules of decorum are off the table, replaced with a scorched Earth policy.
It’s not outside the realm of possibility that Gretchen has finally snapped in some substantial way, but, regardless, the fruits of that are certainly numerous in terms of entertainment and enjoyment. Not to mention the cringe factor that has shot straight through the roof here.
The big climax of the episode between Jimmy, Gretchen, the publicist, and the interviewer works so tremendously well because, disregarding the fact that Gretchen is definitely setting him up for a huge fall, you almost believe what she’s saying.
More than that, you want to believe her. The concept of everything being simpatico again is so juicy and inviting that you nearly forget that everyone in the room, including the audience, is being played. This is owed not only to the spectacular chemistry and energy between Chris Geere and Aya Cash, but also to Aya Cash herself.
The fact that we want to believe her is a testament to Cash’s work as an actress and the tremendous work she’s put into Gretchen as a character up to this point.
What works less in this episode is the side plot with Lindsey and Edgar trying to find their place among their group, mainly because this is a conversation that they’ve already had and, supposedly, worked through. It’s fine, but feels repetitive for the characters.
The impressive thing about You’re the Worst‘s fourth season is the way that, week-after-week, the show is finding new areas in the dynamics to play around with to amazing results.
What did you think of this episode of You’re the Worst? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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You’re the Worst airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FXX.
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Drew Koenig
Drew has an ongoing, borderline unhealthy obsession with pop culture, but with television in particular. When he's not aggressively trying to get out of a perpetual state of catching up, he can be found passionately defending the ending of Lost. More of his online work can be found at The Lost Cause and he also co-hosts The Lost Cause Pod.
One thought on “You’re the Worst Review: Fog of War, Bro (Season 4 Episode 5)”
You perfectly summed up what happened in this episode. It’s scary what Gretchen can do when she’s absolutely bonkers, I think the show is staying true to their characters by showing how they can also be the worst for each other when they hurt, and break-up. It’s strange, I am so invested in this series relationship that I could almost feel the pain that Jimmy felt through the screen when he saw how she faked getting back together with him and then kissing the married guy right in front of him. I think Jimmy is not acting until this point because, deep down he feels he deserves the treatment he’s getting from her. Although, he is trying to defend himself but in vain. The episode was emotionally painful to watch but again, goes to show how stellar the writing, acting and plot is.
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