Blurbs And Blood

2 Broke Girls, S02E08

Max and Caroline were excited to find a blurb about their cupcake business in Martha Stewart Living.  Fueled by their good luck, they tried to find ways to buy the soup kitchen for their business after it had been shut done due to a murder inside.  After failing to get a business loan from a small business organization and an investment from Sophie, the girls sought money from an egg donation clinic.

I was pretty surprised that the first time Caroline mentioned checking Martha Stewart's magazine that there would be something about their business in it.  It's nice that Martha came through for them and Caroline's phone was blowing up with cupcake orders.  I'm sure that would be plenty for them at this stage.  I was further surprised that Caroline was taking that momentum to buy themselves a space.  I thought that kind of conversation would come much later, but I guess you have to strike when the iron is hot.  I was surprised by that, but not much that they got rejected for loans and by Sophie.  Then at the end I was shocked again that Sophie changed her mind.  It's not so clear why she had a change of heart.  Maybe she just knew that they were down on their luck--we have really no idea.  I'd make a fuss about this being a little too convenient if I wasn't just happy for the girls overall.  Basically, I'm adopting a "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" kind of attitude with that plot development.

What I really liked about this episode was a few things.  I most liked when Max went into the soup kitchen and was so pumped about all the blood on the walls.  I have to say I might have wanted to do the same thing, even if it's a little twisted.  I mean, people did die in there, but it was also a bunch of drug dealers, so I couldn't be too sorry for the way things had ended up for those people.  I don't know if I would have wanted to start my business there, but you can't sneeze at the reduced rent you would have to pay there, that's for sure.

It also wasn't a bad scene when Max was left alone to pitch their business plan for their loan.  It was like she had shown up for a test, but had never studied a day in her life.  It was cute how she started to talk and her voice just got softer and softer until you couldn't hear her at all.  I don't blame her for having no confidence--that lady at the desk was an impatient bitch.  But again, no surprise that they weren't given a loan.

Caroline's blood-spurting scene was the last scene I particularly enjoyed.  I cried out when all that blood was coming out of her, and it only got worse when she knocked into a nurse and got blood thrown all over the walls too.  After seeing that I couldn't help but think who was going to clean that up?  I don't envy that person.

This was a good episode.  It looks like we may see their cupcake shop soon enough.  I doubt that they won't encounter a lot of problems along the way, but it should be a good ride.  After all, just buying a place isn't enough to get the business started.  It takes a whole lot before anything is up and running.  So I'm happy to see them moving along, but I'm also content to know they won't be too successful too fast and lose their title as "two broke girls."

Martha, The Cake Tease

2 Broke Girls, S02E02

Caroline thought that she was cursed because her lucky pearls broke and they were experiencing competition to their cupcake business when a new cupcake ATM was introduced around town.  Max, wanting to not believe in her magic charm, convinced Caroline to go with her to see Martha and remind her about their fateful meeting the bathroom.

What I liked best about this episode was that they returned to the issue about Martha, who was supposed to have called them at some point.  I was wondering when they were going to talk about that again.  It was so funny to hear Max bitch about Martha and call her a "cake tease."  She even did a horrible imitation of her.  Then, when they went to visit her at her studio, I loved when they were talking to the receptionist about how they met Martha because the lady kept repeating back their story as if it was the worst lie she had ever heard.  They were so close to actually meeting Martha, but breaking the tooth of the receptionist with their "pearl surprise" cupcake threw that opportunity right out the door.  And finally, when Max got hit by the cab, that was so shocking, but hilarious!  I mean, she wasn't hurt, so that was great, but I just never thought their bad luck would get that bad.

I was pretty annoyed with Caroline being all negative because her ugly pearls weren't around her neck anymore.  I thought it was ridiculous that she thought they had some kind of magical power to bring them good luck and just wanted her to shut up already until she revealed to Max why she first thought they were lucky.  She was wearing them when she met Max, and I suppose that is the luckiest thing that happened to her.  Had Caroline been left on her own or sought help from another random person, I doubt she would have a semi-decent place to live and good people around her.  So I suppose the pearls were only then not an annoying topic, but by then it was nearly the end of the episode.

When Max did finally remake Caroline's necklace, they were lucky enough to get an email from Martha who said she hadn't forgotten about them.  So, will she put them on her show?  Or in a magazine or something?  It's still unclear what Martha plans to do with them, if anything but just encourage them.  I can't imagine Martha's help in any way couldn't benefit them greatly, but I'm still concerned that the girls are going to screw it up somehow.  Also, there are still the cupcake ATMs around.  It's not as if their little business is really going to get rid of that competition so easily.

Oh, and one more thing that was good.  I really liked how Max had spray paint in her purse.  She keeps it there for the same reason she carries a tampon because you just never know.  Gotta love Max.

This was a good episode because it answered the question of what happened next after the finale.  But it still raises the question of what Martha will specifically do to boost their business.  I'm looking forward to that because the girls have gone through enough just to meet her and re-meet her (breaking people's teeth and getting hit by cars) that they deserve something good.  Whether that good thing is due to Caroline's stupid pearls is questionable, but at least having those restored will keep Caroline from glooming up the place again.

Cupcake Cinderellas

2 Broke Girls, S01E23-24

The girls were excited about a meeting with a famous party business owner who had initially agreed to look at their cupcakes, but was only giving them the runaround because he didn't want anything to do with the bad publicity associated with Caroline's father.  After this and some hate mail Caroline got, she got depressed and lost her fighting spirit.  It returned with both Max bringing back Chestnut and Max trying to save face with her old fling Johnny by bragging she would be doing business with Martha Stewart soon.  Caroline suggested that they really go meet Martha Stewart at a gala that Caroline frequented in her wealthier days.  With help from their friends, Max and Caroline were able to dress the part and make it there in time.  They were denied access at the door, but they managed to sneak in as servers and change back into their fancy garb in the bathroom.  While Caroline was finishing changing back, they stumbled into Martha and got her to taste their cupcake.

I would have thought that Caroline would be used to her name giving her trouble while her father was still being punished for his possible crimes.  At this point in the game, her getting depressed about hate mail and blocks to their cupcake success should have been just another day for them.  When Max brought Chestnut back to cheer her up, I almost wished that the horse had trampled all over her.  I would have just left her alone with her woe-as-me attitude.  Maybe Max hasn't gotten such hateful letters before, but she's definitely gone through enough hardships that Caroline's worries should look like a trip to the ice cream shop in comparison.

What did get things interesting was when Johnny showed up at the dinner.  I loved how Earl was treating him like a piece of trash.  It was so funny!  However, I wished that Max had just played it cool and not boasted about her own success to compete with all the good things happening in Johnny's life.  But I can't blame her.  He had success and an engagement to announce.  I think the best thing he could have done to make amends with Max was to not show up in her life at all.  All it did was make her feel ashamed about how far she had come with her own goals.  However, if he hadn't come along to talk about how great he was doing Caroline might not have had the idea for them to speak to Martha Stewart.

I knew from the moment that Caroline said she didn't have anything to wear to the gala back at their apartment that Sophie would be the one to provide them with clothes.  The montage where they were trying on clothes wasn't that great (except the moment where Max and Sophie were playing with each others' boobs), but the dress that Max picked in the end was really beautiful on her.  She really has a chest to die for.  If I could look that great in a dress like that, I would totally wear it.  I'm always excited to see Max outside of her ugly, mustard-colored uniform, but this time she really looked fabulous (Caroline was all right).

Earl was so sweet when he brought them corsages.  It was like they were going to the prom or something and he was a proud father.  That added to the element that the night was going to be magical, not unlike Cinderella going to her first ball (it would be Max's first gala).

I don't know about them getting to the event on a horse, though.  Wouldn't it be hard to go fast on it in the streets of New York?  There's no one they didn't encounter traffic.  But I liked how they were able to charm the policemen into holding Chestnut for them and not arresting them for riding a horse on a bridge illegally.  Plus, it would have been just too much if after all of that they ended up in jail.  It would have been more realistic, but not very entertaining for the sake of this show.

Since they were later spending so much time in the bathroom, I had a feeling that was where they would meet Martha.  I liked that Caroline was bad-mouthing her a bit before she realized she was there.  She also had a lot of balls to say such things to her and then offer her the smooshed cupcake right there in the bathroom.  This once again confirms that Caroline is the muscle in their business--she gets shit done.  They got Martha's approval and got her to take their business card.  That was more than I thought they might accomplish.

I think this was an acceptable season finale.  It wasn't ground-breaking, but this isn't what this show is about anyway.  Will the girls finally get some legitimate business now that Martha has their business card?  Who knows if we'll ever find out, considering it's not a guarantee that this show will be picked up next season.  Whether it does or not, I will say that I've enjoyed what I've seen so far, even with all the distasteful jokes and superficial plot developments.  I want to see what else is in store for Max, so I'll try to keep positive about the future of this show.

"Normal" Abed And Troy Are Still Funny As Normal

Community, S03E11

Finally Community came back last week!  It was worth the wait to see the gang back to their usual Greendale routine.  This episode was mostly about Shirley's second marriage to Andre (Gotta love Theo, aka Malcolm Jamal Warner).  This standard ceremony (as standard as a marriage ceremony set up in a room at a college could be) sets the background for everyone to act anything but normal, except perhaps Annie who was unsurprisingly her typical girly self who was dying to get involved with the wedding.  It was sort of relief to watch this show after a while (especially fearing that it would never be picked up again) and see that it was still as funny as I remembered.

Greta was her usual self, giving everyone her downer opinion of why marriage was horrible and repressive, but she contradicted all of her complaints by being the "Martha Stewart" of weddings.  She could amazingly arrange flowers into a beautiful piece of art and transform that study room into a romantic wonderland that most girls would give their left leg to have their nuptials performed.  It was good that she was fighting so hard against her natural instinct to become another "Stepford wife"; sometimes with Greta's need to argue against everything, you forget she's a woman for some reason.  She comes off a little manly, I think, because she's not very honest about her feelings and thinks that every establishment is some kind of social scam.

Jeff, as if to mirror Greta, went off in a drunken spiral about how marriage was a lie and would have ruined the ceremony if not for Greta's ranting and Shirley and Andre's fight beforehand.  I definitely would have guessed that his parents got divorced, although I don't think that is the main factor that leads him to be so jaded.  But the fact that his parents couldn't stay together must have hit him really hard since he couldn't bring himself to just lie and make a semi-decent speech about how wonderful it was that his friend was going to get married.  I'm glad that Andre and Shirley got the "marriage is the worst" club to shut up and renewed their vows.  I couldn't listen to Jeff whine about how miserable he was made through the loss of his parents' union nor Greta about how she was surrendering to marriage (she should be so lucky that someone would want that brand of crazy to wake up to every morning--though, I bet only Jeff would be able to match that as a husband).

My favorite thing about the wedding was that Shirley asked Abed and Troy to act "normal."  Although I love the two to death, I think it is a reasonable request because they have imagination levels that are off the charts at most times.  When they decided that they would tone it down for Shirley's sake, I was worried that they would become so stereotypically "normal" that they would be even weirder than usual.  Instead, they pulled off normal pretty well!  It was hilarious when they were talking to Andre in their sympathetic, "normal" tone, but all he could hear was sarcasm.  So great.  I almost didn't want them to turn back, but I'm sure it wouldn't be as funny after a while.  I mean, it only works in a comedic fashion because it's a contrast to the bizarre rocket these two can get on over even the smallest thing once they have set their mind to it.

On a completely different note, does Pierce look a little younger?  It might be perhaps he wasn't dressed too much like a retired old man and his hair isn't as white as it usually was.  I'm not entirely sure.  I'm a little disappointed that he and Shirley didn't get to have their little sandwich shop together.  I think that would have set up some crazy situations down the road.  But I guess they don't really need to try hard in Community to set up the weirdness.  It will just come naturally as this weird study group interacts with each other.

So glad that Community is back in the NBC mix.  It was especially nice since there was no Parks and Recreation to watch last Thursday.  I've heard some buzz about Chang (you brought the show back and didn't have him all up in it??) being up to no good in an episode soon, so I'm excited about that.  "Senior Chang" was probably one of my favorite characters a while ago, and I have missed the insane stuff he used to say.  He best be in the next episode.