Friday, January 11, 2013

The Great Repression

Funny F*ckin' Friday
***½

Ted and Linda are sent to counseling when they're accused of sexually harassing a fellow employee; meanwhile, Phil and Lem attempt to save the job of a robot when it is replaced by a far less efficient human employee.

Previous: It's Nothing Business, It's Just Personal

Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett) have a tendency to throw themselves into their work, unconcerned for the people around them, but here, when they learn that a robotic worker has been replaced by a human, they take it upon themselves to help upgrade their automatic ally in an effort to keep it from the scrap heap. While their affinity for the robotic drones may seem inhuman to some, the unfeeling efficiency with which they aim to replace the fallible human employee is likely to garner respect from the higher ups at the company itself.

After receiving news that her staff is being subject to a high number of sexual harassment cases, Veronica's (Portia de Rossi) solution to the problem is improved lighting, assuming that, could her drones see one another properly, they would lose interest in making sexual advances toward each other at all. Everything about Veronica's approach to the situation is on-point in this episode, and when she learns that employees seeking treatment for a disease, such as alcoholism, can't be fired, she really hits her stride. Gleefully Veronica tells Ted (Jay Harrington) and Linda (Andrea Anders) that she's had the company classify sexual harassment as a disease, "that way anyone who's accused of it can't be fired or punished in any way," eliminating her role in mitigating situations, and improving the quality of her work day. Instead Veronica finds that, with the threat of job loss gone, her employees begin spending all their time flirting, driving productivity into the ground. Once more, Veronica chooses to hatch an elaborate plan of parading the children from the aftercare program through the office in order to kill everyone's sex drives rather than putting a stop to her no-fire policy. It's a ridiculous storyline, and it's also absolutely brilliant; Veronica is best when she's headlining the episode, and this is no exception.

Having relied on a robotic janitor for years, Phil and Lem are incredibly upset to learn that it's been replaced by the human janitor Carlos (Wilmer Calderon) because he's cheaper to manufacture and requires less maintenance. Though upset over the situation, both are mollified to hear that their robot is being sent to spend the rest of its days on a farm, though they both are devastated when the truth that it'll be broken down for parts is revealed. Phil and Lem spend the better part of the episode trying to remedy the situation, rebuilding their robot and giving it work, though it soon goes haywire and turns against them, spraying Lem in the face with hot coffee and veering dangerously around the office. The fact that Phil and Lem put the needs of their robotic companion above the needs of physical humans is a great touch to add to their characters without seeming out of the blue, and their story is very enjoyable from beginning to end.

Linda is subject to sexual harassment after attending the seminar, and she chooses to deal with the situation by turning it back against the man speaking to her. Certainly she's justified in her actions, and it's a fairly funny sequence, but the message here is completely off, as it's implying that harassment is acceptable when it's done against those that would harass others themselves.

The romantic tension between Ted and Linda seems to have been completely dropped from the series in favor of possibly rekindling something between Ted and Veronica. Considering how attracted Linda and Ted were to one another, it just seems strange that it would have become completely ignored, and were this the first episode I had seen, I would have had no idea that they were ever intended to be a romantic pairing. In fact, they seem like nothing more than coworkers at this point, which is especially glaring since their friendship, filled with sexual-tension, was the original basis of much of this show.

Everyone displays a great comic timing in this story, and it's a pleasure to see Merrin Dungey back in the role of cat-loving Sheila. Kristi Clainos' Erica is also a great foil for Harrington's Ted here, as she makes very overt sexual advances that he simply can't act on, and watching him try to work his way out of these situations is played very well on both their parts.

Directed by Reginald Hudlin, this episode is fairly enjoyable, though the pacing is somewhat strange in a few portions. The harassment seminar is very well done, and the interaction between Ted and the seminar coach Denise (Jennifer Irwin) is great, as he desperately tries to get across that he was falsely accused, while she comments every time that his denials are part of his disease. The use of flashbacks and cut sequences is very funny in this story, but there's still something about it that keeps it from feeling as complete as the first season did.

Writers Becky Mann and Audra Sielaff have a good grasp on what it takes to get Ted off his game, and seeing him fumble for words is always funny, especially when paired with his determination to keep things professional in the office, leading to the awkward moment when he refers to Erica as a respected, gender-neutral employee, musing only after she's left that he "may have over-corrected." Ted's misadventures continue after learning that Linda accidentally sexually harassed Sheila in trying to comfort her, and in trying to explain the situation to Sheila he ends up doing the exact same thing. Ted's normally so cool when it comes to dealing with people, and it usually takes a lot to get him flustered, but when things start to go wrong for him, everything goes wrong, and it's great entertainment.

It's always good to see Ted off his game, but this story seems to hint more towards a romantic rendezvous with Veronica, which seems to be coming up out of the blue. Linda's interest in Ted, and his in her, seems to have waned completely, which is strange, but may simply be a function of this particular story.

Next: Beating a Dead Workforce

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