Don't Make Max A Fifth Wheel

Happy Endings, S03E06

Alex and Jane's father was celebrating his 20th anniversary of his mattress store with a party, and Jane wanted to entertain her father with the perfect joke.  Alex asked Dave not to come to the party, but he came after Penny's suggestion with no knowledge that Alex hadn't told her parents that they were back together.  Max began to feel lonely because of Penny's new relationship with Pete and tried to replace Penny with someone similar to her.

It's always funny to me to see someone who doesn't like Brad.  Jane's dad was particularly hard to reach, simply annoyed with Brad for saying "parties, right?"  It's not even a matter of them having little to talk about--it's just that Brad could probably say anything and his father-in-law would just stare at him, unamused.  I loved that.  I even loved when Brad, so desperate to end the unease between the two of them, stole Jane's painstakingly constructed joke for her father.  It sucked that he stole her work of art, but at least Brad had finally broken the wall between him and her dad.  I couldn't blame him for that.  He's probably been sweating for years.

And even though Jane had to go with plan B, she still managed to get her dad to laugh at her by knocking herself out.  It was a win-win.  Brad got to connect with his father-in-law, and Jane got her father to laugh.  For the two of them, they had a really successful evening.

I didn't care about Dave and Alex's problem until Alex's dad kept talking to Dave about how much money he put into the ceremony that didn't happen.  I mean, he was not trying to be very subtle about how the wedding had hurt him in the pocket.  That was sort of funny.  Still, if in the end Dave hadn't gotten in front of the whole party and announced that he and Alex were dating again I wouldn't have been upset.  It's very much an insignificant thing to me whether Alex tells her parents about her and Dave or not.  If the two of them are going to be doing more things like eating corn like a typewriter, I'm ready to see them split again.

I sort of expected that Penny and Pete wouldn't be split by the next episode, but I also didn't care if I was wrong about that.  I suppose I've gotten like Max and don't have much confidence that Penny will hold onto a guy, so what's the point in liking (or disliking) her flavor of the week?  It's just amazing that she had a really good thing going and she ruined it by writing down Pete's flaws, which she had previously said she wasn't going to do.  You would think that's something someone would do after you breakup, not when you're still in the honeymoon phase of your relationship.  Pete's wrong about Penny being "a little" crazy.  She's full-blown on.

I felt bad for Max, who literally kept getting pushed to the side by all of his friends in couples.  I was sort of proud of him for no winning Penny back by getting between her and Pete.  That seemed like the first thing he would try.  Instead, he got a Penny-like girl named Nicole (or "Nickel" as he tried to call her) to befriend.  It's too bad Penny was too wrapped up in being a "love guru" that she didn't even notice he was trying to make her jealous at all.  In fact, Nicole ended up getting hooked up with Pete's brother right away!  I would have thought Nicole's appearance was a waste then, but at the very end of the episode there was this great scene where Nicole surprises Max in his apartment and he had no idea she was right behind him the whole time.  Although she was acting like a psycho and Max had screamed at the sight of her, I loved his response afterward:

Oh, my God.  You're insane.  And I love it and I want to party with you forever!

I loved how he hugged that crazy girl!  But is Nicole going to stick around?  Or was that just for an extra laugh (much needed one)?  After all, Max did get Pete and Penny back together (nice of him even if I wasn't desperate for Pete and Penny to stay together), so he doesn't have his best bud around to hang with.  Nicole seems nuts, but I'm open to her joining the crew if she can multiple the craziness of Max.  He's been pretty tame lately and I want him to get back to crazy schemes like that ghetto stove he made.  That was genius.

I guess I didn't hate this episode.  I didn't think it was very funny, but the party for Alex and Jane's dad was sort of interesting.  I might start to become interested in Penny's life again now that she has a stable boyfriend.  I'm so used to her being a single mess that perhaps her bad traits might be toned down with a good man at her side.  Or maybe Pete will turn out to be a bit of a weirdo, thus making their relationship a little more meant to be.  I just wish that Max would find someone soon.  Even if it's entertaining for him to seek replacements, I'm sure it's dangerous for him to go around and find any more Nicoles around town.