Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Dirty Hands and a Barbed-Wire Fence
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Season 2 Episode 4, “Dirty Hands and a Barbed-Wire Fence,” ends up as one of the stressful episodes of the series so far.
The episode gets right into it, opening on one of Georgie’s nightmares where the weight of all his bills is literally crushing him. Money troubles have been a mainstay of the series. While they are more often than not stressful to watch than funny, we’ve all been there.
It’s hard not to feel for Georgie here, and it makes Fred Bagenbacher’s return all the more detestable.
Fred’s making good on his promise from Season 1 to drive Georgie and Ruben out of business. He starts by offering to repair the church buses for free, causing Georgie to lose business.
There is something comically pathetic about Fred’s investment in destroying Georgie’s business. Matt Letscher does a fantastic job making Fred a hateable slimeball.
Particularly, when Georgie calls to confront him, the way Fred stalls picking up was painfully well done. When he hung up, his delivery on “I’ll see you around, Georgie,” sounds so believably self-satisfied it makes your skin crawl.
You love to hate him.
On one hand, you want to see Georgie stand up for himself. However, the way he retaliates is stupid even for him. Georgie and Ruben’s scheme involves sneaking onto his property and pouring bleach into Fred’s tow trucks.
It’s not that it feels like he’s taking it too far, but it is such a stupid plan that you feel anxious watching it. It’s made even worse by how Georgie handles it.
The plan somehow goes off without a hitch, but Georgie spends the rest of the episode acting suspiciously.
Mandy’s Misunderstanding
Considering Georgie’s behavior, Mandy worries he’s having an affair. While we know that’s not what’s happening, it’s easy to see why she’d think that.
The problem is that Georgie refuses to explain to her what he is actually doing. That alone is understandable, but the way he dances around it makes it seem even more like he’s having an affair!
While this couple is no stranger to miscommunication, the episode forces it on them. We know Georgie is lying to her, but we also know he’s not cheating.
Mandy reaching that conclusion, while not unreasonable, ends up feeling frustrating, especially when Georgie really isn’t doing much to prove his innocence.
Like previous episodes, this conflict between them doesn’t have a resolution. The tension between them just continues building.
Worse yet, a well-meaning but misguided Jim ends up telling Georgie he’s doing the right thing. We can’t know for sure whether Jim would have given different advice to Georgie if he knew what he was doing, but now we know Georgie’s about to triple down on lying.
“Dirty Hands and a Barbed-Wire Fence,” while containing some funny moments and great performances, turns out to be a much more frustrating experience than anything.
What did you think of this episode of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
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Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage airs Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.
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Olivia Thomas
Olivia Thomas is a passionate creative writer with a love of TV and movies, spanning from animation, comedy, and even horror. She is a graduate of Sacramento State University with a degree in English and a certificate in screenwriting. She has a year of prior experience writing for CBR.