Not Suitable for Work Season 1 Episodes 8-9 Review: Denver is For Lovers / A Birthday Party for the Whole World

Endings can be satisfying and progressive, but still not reach their potential completely. Not Suitable for Work Season 1 Episode 8, “Denver is for Lovers,” and Not Suitable for Work Season 1 Episode 9, “A Birthday Party for the Whole World,” have some inevitable and predictable conclusions.

Davis gets the girl (most likely temporarily), Bill shows his whole ass, Abby returns to Vanessa, Kel proves he’s a good actor and teacher, and Josh shows his work potential. Everything goes as expected, leaving room for excitement about a possible second season.

However, the show has an okay ending, but leaves us with some of the same issues we’ve seen all season.

We know this dance. Davis and AJ won’t last that long, if even longer than an episode or two in Season 2. However, the show is setting up a maybe season-long love triangle between Davis, Josh, and AJ, but this one doesn’t seem to have any real mystery.

Davis has won her heart for now, but it would shock us if he is her endgame. That seems very clearly intended for someone else.

We can confidently predict that AJ will likely end up with Josh if the show continues. It made its choice the moment we heard about them losing their virginities to each other.

Now we must wait to see what grand gestures and moments play out before they have their final big declaration of love and devotion. Mindy Kaling’s shows are very charming and likable, but we are starting to see an easy-to-predict pattern. That’s killing some of their momentum.

Additionally, AJ feels like a much more interesting character than someone whose storylines are so centered on her love life.  She’s already been linked to three of the four main male characters. Kel remains on an island in love with Abby.

We appreciate him for this.

Those two are Not Suitable for Work‘s most valuable couple. We’re invested in them more than anything going on with Josh, AJ, and Davis (especially Bill). Kaling and team seem to understand that Kel and Abby will be a major draw, now and down the line, because it’s also giving them the slow-burn treatment.

We are fully invested in seeing what unfolds between them in future seasons. We wish we had the same enthusiasm for some of the other storylines on this show. “Denver is for Lovers” and “A Birthday Party for the World” keep things orbiting around the work dramas, but feel like it shifts slightly to more of a focus on the personal drama.

Abby continues to have the most interesting workforce storylines. Her almost-styling of Jack McBrayer is one of the few storylines at work that have drawn our attention. It was a less over-the-top version, but still a fun and unexpected cameo.

My wish for a potential next season is that it focus less on AJ’s romance and work on improving some of the workforce storylines. This is mainly supposed to be about young people navigating work and relationships in NYC. The relationship part we see, but we want a little more interesting work storylines.

“Denver is for Lovers” and “A Birthday Party for the World” were fine episodes, but we want better than fine. We want a reason to shout the show from the rooftop. Though this season hasn’t lived up to our high expectations as devoted Kaling fans, we still want to see what it does in future seasons.

Hulu, renew it. 

What did you think of these episodes of Not Suitable for Work? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

Stream Not Suitable for Work Season 1 on Hulu.

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!