You’re the Worst Review: Dad-Not-Dad (Season 4 Episode 10)
On You’re the Worst Season 4 Episode 10 “Dad-Not-Dad,” Jimmy tries to be friends with a new group, Gretchen tries to impress Boone’s ex-wife, and Lindsey and Becca confront their mother.
What sets “Dad-Not-Dad” apart from so many other episodes of You’re the Worst is that, for once, the characters are receiving legitimately good pieces of advice that could improve their lives for the better.
So often on this series, somebody like Jimmy or Gretchen will throw around truly abysmal recommendations for other people, usually resulting in disaster. In this episode, however, there’s a sense of care to the states the characters are in and the advice that follows.
Edgar, for example, is warned by Jimmy to not keep the new car he just bought, citing his continued problems with money regarding the house that he bought. This isn’t much, but Jimmy and Edgar’s friendship has often been colored by the former’s constant verbal abuse towards the latter.
In past seasons, Edgar would come to Jimmy for help and Jimmy would respond with something so demonstrably unhelpful that it borders on endangerment. Here, Jimmy is presenting advice that could actually positively benefit Edgar.
Will he take this to heart? Probably not and he’d be right not to. As Edgar points out, Jimmy shouldn’t be allowed to have that kind of say in anyone’s life after ditching for months on end and the best part about that is Jimmy doesn’t disagree. There’s a type of self-loathing happening here that is excellent to see in this episode.
Arguably, this could connect to Jimmy’s other scenes throughout the episode as he tries to hang out with his old friend/sexual partner’s group of friends, who hate him so deeply throughout the episode, because Jimmy — being Jimmy — is obnoxious and off-putting the entire time.
It’s possible that’s just who Jimmy is as a person: someone whose very nature is a repellant to the normals of the world. Equally as likely, however, is that, perhaps to an extent that Jimmy himself doesn’t understand, he does not want to be liked by others and even enjoys, on a subconscious level, the ire he receives.
A real strength of “Dad-Not-Dad” is the excellent roster of guest stars that pop up throughout it. Between Lou Diamond Phillips playing a version of himself; Colin Ferguson as Gretchen’s boyfriend, Boone; Anne Dudek as Boone’s ex-wife that Gretchen accidentally seduces; and Robin Riker as Becca and Lindsey’s actress mother, Faye.
It is truly an embarrassment of riches that is in no small part responsible for the overall high comedic mark that “Dad-Not-Dad” leaves in its wake. Phillips is the clear standout lightly parodying himself, but gracefully positions and executes himself as the emotional climax of the episode.
With a performance that solid, it would be easy to miss others, but Anne Dudek should never be ignored. She brings a disarming lovability to a character that could otherwise be seen as terribly one-note. Dudek and Cash have such amazing chemistry together that it’s almost not weird that Gretchen finds herself in an intimate situation with her.
Even though it is entirely weird, but perhaps not out of character for Gretchen to do something like this, blackout drunk notwithstanding.
“Dad-Not-Dad,” while perhaps not one of the best episodes of the season, is a remarkably funny and tender episode that balances the two masterfully.
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.