TVSquad

(S01E04) This show is really shaping up to be a soap opera, isn't it? I mean, even the structure is the same: we spend a few minutes with one group, then we switch to another group. After a couple of more minutes we switch to another, and so on. It gets to the point where we see scenes during each of the four storylines during each act of the show. I'm not really sure this really works here, though; in this episode, we only get glimpses of each story, but not much else. Things don't move along as quickly as they should, and when you really want to follow one storyline -- like anything involving Richie -- an annoying storyline comes up and kills the momentum -- like anything involving Holly.

The Holly/Kyle storyline really needs to be fixed. It was the least funny part of what was pretty much a laugh-free episode. Holly is not only waaaayyy too high-strung, she's borderline racist; I mean, the fact that she can't understand anything Aaron is saying, even though he doesn't speak with much of an accent, is starting to grate on me. It's a one-note joke that really doesn't need to be there anymore. Actually, Holly's whole life is a one-note joke: the "gay but not gay" husband, the daughter named Oprah. It's going to have to change, else viewers are going to change the channel when the Holly story comes on and won't change back. At least Kyle and Aaron are shown as a normal couple instead of a gay stereotype; it's too bad they have to share the screen with a character that would make Jack from Will & Grace cringe. At least Kyle's purposely keeping Oprah out of his school so Holly stays out of his life was a good plot twist.

Another twisty story is the one with Richie and Lina. We don't know the whole reason why Richie was so depressed over the last two years, but now we know a little more. He was a whistle-blower; a pharmaceutical chemist who ratted out his company over some minor side effects of a sleep drug... that pesky "death" side effect. The company went under and thousands lost their jobs. So people threaten him now, even at his cute little dinner with Lina. This is a story that's got some real pathos bubbling underneath; I was thinking it had real potential until we saw the twist ending... which I'll get to in a second.

I thought the Duncan/Nicole/Yonk story would go in an interesting direction; Duncan and Yonk start to bond over Nicole's objections, but she maturely steps back and lets it happen, because Duncan worsips Yonk so much (did he play quarterback or something? Because I can't imagine he played anywhere else, given his size). But then Dunc sees the Allens kiss and we're back in the doe-eyed, "Ross and Rachel" longing territory again. Hopefully, it'll stay light and not all misty for the time being.

Kat and Ethan are still just being comfy friends. Kat tries to set Ethan up with a friend, against her better judgement; he goes out with her but doesn't want to continue because her ears are too big. As usual, Kat has the best lines of the episode. She tries to kill Ethan on his pickiness, but gives in: "Of course they're big! They're freakin' bread plates!"

So, the twist... Richie's got a wife! Or a girlfriend! And she's Sara Gilbert! Interesting... So, not only is Richie depressed, he's a cheater, too. So what was going to be the goofiest character is starting to become the darkest one. Unless Sara's just his sister, then that would be lame.

But the show needs to scale back some of these stories and concentrate on maybe two at a time in each episode; otherwise, there's no time to develop a comic rhythm. This episode was a big step backwards for The Class. I hope it gets back to being funny, or else a lot of people are going to switch off after How I Met Your Mother is over.