Abby’s Review: Book Club (Season 1 Episode 4)
It would be easy for a young sitcom to rest on its comedic laurels in early episodes; frankly speaking, building out characters and relationships is a much tougher sell on a multi-camera sitcom, which is much closer to live theater than traditional film.
There are rare cases like The Carmichael Show, where putting narrative first actually works in strengthening the audience’s connection with the cast, but it’s a monumentally difficult feat to pull off for a freshman comedy, a shared journey of discovery most network sitcoms don’t even attempt.
Now, this unassuming comedy’s ambitions may not be vast and unyielding as its network predecessor, but Abby’s Season 1 Episode 4, “Book Club” quietly – and successfully – follows in that story-first template, in what’s a very promising sign for the young comedy.
Although Beth may technically be the first person to have a drink at the titular bar (before it was a bar, of course), Abby’s relationship with Fred is the true bedrock of the series. They understand each other, their shared cynical worldview serving both as the philosophical bedrock of the bar, and the series as a whole.
With this established in the first three episodes, examining Fred’s reluctance to date is an easy avenue for discovery; it allows the patrons to poke and prod at Fred’s tough exterior, and more importantly, allows Abby to challenge Fred to get out of his chair and live life a little bit, which pays dividends for the cast as a whole.
Admittedly, the message behind “Book Club” is rather simple; happiness is never enjoyed alone. But it’s an important idea nestled deep into the show’s core; Abby’s is a collection of people alienated from their own sense of identity, and her semi-illegal backyard bar is the one place where they can reclaim who they are.
Fred and James aren’t lonely divorcees, just as Beth isn’t a disgruntled matriarch; “Book Club” is the first episode that strives to push anyone outside that box, and as a result, it helps reveal some of Abby’s more intimate thoughts on the role relationships play in our lives.
Abby’s smartly doesn’t try to pretend it’s an innovator in this space – and with its episodes barely clocking in at 21 minutes apiece, it doesn’t have a lot of time to bring complexity to any of its conflicts. Knowing this, “Book Club” uses little background touches to help solidify the episode’s emotional arc.
The best of these is Bill’s attempts to get back into dating through the use of books; he spends most of the episode reading a book on fishing, thinking it’s a metaphor for dating. A simple joke, and one that might seem like it runs its course by the episode’s second act; but it forms a neat parallel to Fred, a man who spends most of “Book Club” pontificating on how superficially pointless romantic pursuits are (“and then what…?”).
Fred understands what Bill (and to a severe degree, James) does not; bonds between people are not formed by platitudes out of a dating book, or by presenting a slightly inauthentic version of self to a stranger. All things must come from a place of naked honesty, unfettered by metaphors or expectations; Fred, for better or worse, understands the zero-sum nature of existence and knows the damage of forcing something unnatural.
He also understands that’s just an excuse he uses to keep himself from taking chances; like Abby, Fred is not a person that enjoys change in any way, shape or form. After all, changing something could make things worse; that same fear drives why James can’t stop friend zoning himself, and also why Bill finds himself so reliant on the knowledge of others to find the happiness he lost in his divorce.
Without the push and pull of conflict in his life, Fred’s been able to isolate himself from the best and worst feelings in the world; quietly, however, “Book Club” pushes Fred to realize how flawed that approach to life is, catalyzing important moments of self-discovery for the other sad sack men with prestigious seats at Abby’s bar.
“Book Club” is an unabashedly predictable episode; from punch lines to story structure, there aren’t a lot of surprises up Abby’s sleeves (when it does try to throw in a final act twist, it can be seen from a mile away).
And while it doesn’t quite reach the emotional highs of last week’s “Free Alcohol Day”, “Book Club” reinforces the strengths Abby’s has continued developing since its pilot episode, another promising entry in the quickly-blossoming ensemble comedy.
What did you think of this episode of Abby’s? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Abby’s airs Thursdays at 9:30/8:30c on NBC.
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Randy Dankievitch
Randy Dankievitch is a TV critic living in Portland, Maine, whose obsession with pop culture began as a child, watching reruns of The Muensters while listening to Paul's Boutique on repeat. A writer since 2011, Randy is currently the writer of TV Never Sleeps, TV Editor at Goomba Stomp, and a columnist for Up Portland, with previous bylines at Sound on Sight, Processed Media, TV Overmind, and many others.