You’re the Worst Review: There’s Always a Back Door (Season 4 Episode 6)
On You’re the Worst Season 4 Episode 6 ,”There’s Always a Back Door,” the series further explores itself outside of Jimmy and Gretchen’s relationship for an introspective and quietly emotional episode.
“There’s Always a Back Door,” and You’re the Worst Season 4 at large, tackles a confounding and important question that has plagued many: What are you supposed to do after a break-up? Is there a rulebook? The answer to which is, obviously, no, there’s no right way of going about it. You just do it and hope for the best.
The act of moving on isn’t that difficult. You dive yourself into something engulfing, be that a new relationship, work, or an engrossing hobby that you’re passionate about.
The main obstacle, and the one that festers in Jimmy and Gretchen here, is the emotional, psychic trauma that a defunct relationship leaves you with.
Jimmy, almost delusional, believes that Gretchen is playing some sort of long-con on him and will come back to him after a certain point. Gretchen’s pain is felt even more profoundly here with her budding relationship with Boone (Colin Ferguson) and her belief that no one fights for her.
Unlike Jimmy’s, her belief isn’t delusional. It exists in a real space for her based on years of observations and disappointments.
Yes, Jimmy was ultimately there for her during her deep, depressive state, but any good that he once did for her has been undone by leaving her.
Jimmy and Gretchen are fundamentally terrible people, but the empathy and understanding that the series presents for the duo over the last four seasons never ceases to be anything less than outstanding. At its core, these are characters that You’re the Worst genuinely wants to see be better.
It constantly pushes them, tests their mental boundaries, all in an attempt for significant personal growth. For some, like Gretchen, it gives a tiny victory to. Others, like Jimmy, are forced to wallow in their misery for a bit.
Then there’s Lindsey, who, after receiving terrible advice from Gretchen, acts like a terrible person to her co-workers and is subtly punished for it. This clearly defines a running thread of the season: a person has to be torn down to their foundation before they can rebuild themselves as better people.
Lindsey tried to be herself and fails miserably at it. You’re the Worst has proved itself to be a show that this will yield true, positive introspection on her part and emerge a stronger, better person for it.
To a certain extent, You’re the Worst has all been a seasons-long experiment: can truly terrible people (other than Edgar, of course) eventually become something more worthwhile as human beings? The answer continues to point to yes, despite the awful things that the characters do.
Some Stray Thoughts:
- Of course Paul would become a Male Rights Activist. It’s so despicably perfect.
- Desperately need to know who punched Paul. Actually, it doesn’t matter. Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth.
- I’d like a spin-off just of Colin Ferguson torturing his ex-wife’s boyfriend/husband.
- More Colin Ferguson/non-Maytag commercial acting roles actually, thank you, please.
- We finally get to see Doug Benson’s secretary where one of the characters isn’t accidentally ruining his life.
- Lindsey should never, ever be allowed to tell jokes.
- “I’ll have a vodka soda and, no, I’m not trying to rape you.” Just the worst, Paul.
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.