Mr. Mayor Review: Avocado Crisis (Season 1 Episode 7)

Mr. Mayor Season 1 Episode 7, “Avocado Crisis,” continues the show’s trend of taking good story concepts and reducing them to bland ridiculousness. 

There’s a workable structure for both the main story and the subplot, but the direction it takes is pedestrian and uninspired—whittling down the potential with dull jokes and gross gags until it’s nothing more than another disappointment for the viewer. 

I’m so tired. 

And so is Mikaela (Vella Lovell) in the B story on this episode. She is not sleeping well and Arpi (Holly Hunter) gets to the core of it: imposter syndrome. 

Imposter syndrome is real and it really sucks. It’s very believable that Mikaela suffers from this as does everyone else in the office at some time or another. It’s quite common.

So common that it needs a better opportunity than this insomnia angle to work. Conversely, the idea of the answer to Mikaela’s sleep troubles being Arpi’s droning is humorous, but gets hampered by the inclusion of imposter syndrome. These two ideas just don’t mesh, or they could with more refined writing and a fresher approach.

Instead, the whole thing feels stale and like the two concepts are running parallel rather than coming together for a cohesive narrative. 

Furthermore, focusing on Mikaela’s insecurities about being taken seriously as the boss halfway through the season weakens the character’s development. She already seemed to feel pretty comfortable in her role as the Mayor’s Chief of Staff at this point. If this had been an issue earlier it might have made for a more successful plot point.

And, sure, even established professionals experience imposter syndrome, but for it to be used as part of Mikaela’s arc in the middle of the season feels very clunky. It also doesn’t help that Mikaela is far from a solid, fleshed out character.

This episode might be an attempt to bring clarity to her, but unfortunately, she remains surface-level and basic. With Arpi being a more interesting character, it’s another let down that she’s a bit peripheral to Mikaela’s story.

More Arpi should always be the answer.

The main storyline doesn’t work for me either, and it’s because of the show’s most frequent and most disappointing offenses: misused opportunity.

Mayor Bremer (Ted Danson) has a great solution to spin the panic over the avocado shortage—distracting the hip, health-minded Angelenos with a new craze.

Bremer: We just need to find the next fad. We need to find something that’s abundant, high in Omega-3s, and that people don’t yet think of as edible. And then we rebrand it.

This is a brilliant idea …but then along comes the avocado fish, and it’s downhill from there.

The plot takes such an asinine turn that I stick with begrudgingly, groaning and rolling my eyes every ten seconds. The bones are there for some really funny situational comedy that pokes fun at rebranding and the nature of trends, but all we get is a really ugly eel and crude, low brow foolishness.

The whole bit where the Mayor finds out about Adolphus Hass’ deception and his ultimate resolution gets lost among the absurdity, as does Beau Bridges’ guest star appearance as Hass the ‘Cado King. This award-winning actor is given a lackluster role, and it’s unfortunate, to say the least.

Have you ever gotten an avocado that looks great on the outside and is at the perfect ripeness only to cut into it and see the flesh all brown and stringy and inedible? That is exactly what watching Mr. Mayor Season 1 Episode 7, “Avocado Crisis,” is like.

Stray Observations:

• Adolphus: All my friends call me Adolf.
  Bremer: No thank you.
• I like how Jayden never knows how to address Orly. 
• “Our bodies betray us sometimes. I pee a little when I laugh, so needless to say, I’m very concerned about this Who’s The Boss reboot.” I’ll say it again, we need more Arpi!
• I love a good Fyre Festival reference.

What did you think of this episode of Mr. Mayor? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

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Mr. Mayor airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.

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