Spaced: Change Rewatch

March 30, 2015 9:44 AM - Season 2, Episode 2

Jar Jar Binks, Amber, the Job Centre (oh joy!) and Bilbo (played by Bill Bailey) all figure in this episode.

Following a dispute with a young customer over Jar Jar Binks merchandise and Tim's inability to cope with the Star Wars prequels, Bilbo fires Tim. Daisy is trying to get money out of the Job Centre people, despite not having signed on to the dole for three months due to her holiday. Brian is horrified to discover that his relationship with Twist is affecting his artistic output. After Amber runs out, Marsha finds herself a new lodger – Mike.

Original air date: 2 March 2001.

"What's Derek like as a boss?"
"He's okay... I don't really agree with his policy on vintage comic display."

"Jaja Binks makes the Ewoks look like fucking Shaft."

posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (6 comments total)

:D That should read "Jar Jar Binks" in the quote above, but anyways..

Some references: Back to the Future (the spinning California license plate when Amber rushes out), The A-Team ("I love it when a plan comes together"), and Bagpuss music during the opening sequence (sleeping).

I think my favorite line was the Brian/Twist telephone conversation: "I could stay at yours. I'm not working tomorrow. We could stay in bed all day. So don't forget to wash your sheets." /"Right." /"And your penis."/ "OK."
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 9:49 AM on March 30, 2015

I felt Mike's "there a key to this lock?" undercut a joke that I wished they'd kept running with: that Mike is largely oblivious to Marsha's advances.

I like that they're giving Marsha more to do than swill wine and make inappropriate comments; broadening her relationship with Brian from exploitative to possibly also nurturing. (A nice ambiguity between her self-interest in breaking up Brian and Twist versus her compassion for Brian's need to paint; her "when a plan comes together" plays both ways.)

Bizarro-world Bilbo and Tim! Another joke they'd revisit in Shaun of the Dead.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:06 PM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

A Spaced rewatch! I'm so late to the game!

I have actually used "Chuck your boyfriend, 'ave a sandwich" as relationship advice. It seems as solid as anything else. Lord, but I love Bill Bailey as Bilbo.

And I find it curiously hard to shake Brian's mum's announcement of his uncle's death. "He died in his sleep...whilst driving to Staines on the M4." That line HAUNTS me, I swear...and I giggle every time it pops up its morbid little head.
posted by angeline at 1:56 PM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Ah, now this is back on form! Bill Bailey is a lot of fun, and Daisy and Tim's approach to work is interesting. Daisy is an interesting character throughout because she really is kind of allergic to work. While they are both layabouts, Tim actually does enjoy his work and puts a great deal of effort in, even to his terrible cartoons, while Daisy tries to avoid writing as much as possible.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 12:01 AM on March 31, 2015

Agreed, it would've been more brilliantly funny if Mike were totally oblivious that Marsha was coming on to him.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 4:56 PM on March 31, 2015

Running list of comments from the original commentary:

• References include Bagpuss introduction with everyone waking up, The Exorcist, Back to the Future, a Tardis joke, and a number of 2001 references
• The Jar-Jar rant is Jessica's favorite bit in the show
• While searching behind the couch for change, Jess actually found a lost scrabble piece from the prior season
• Buried under the other noises in the manic painter scene is the Terry and June theme
• The granny from Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" makes a cameo!
• While mucking around in the kitchen in a funk, Simon Pegg actually got shocked by the toaster, and in an unaired cut, he headbutted the counter
• Dopple-Tim was found at the Edinborough fest by sheer chance
• The Lawyer bit was from an American comedian friend who continued the same ruse as an entertainment lawyer, duping his parents for years while he made a living as a comedian
• Everyone enjoyed a little riff on the clean penis line
• "What are you doing" is a line from a series of Edgar's in 1998
• Simon Pegg noted the Star Trek toy sword in the flat was stolen from Edgar Wright
• Apparently, you have to notify the police if you're going to be waiving a gun around
• Brimstone and Treacle, along with police procedurals and detective shows influenced Julia Deakin's questioning of Brian about "Twit" and his lack of artistic inspiration
• The awesome A-Team bit had to be laid out in detail to Julia, who had never seen the show
• In the Silent Running-inspired Silent Reading comic shop, Simon and dopple-Tim are both wearing Strangers in Paradise shirts
• Simon's mum, Jill Pegg, is the little lady who gets hugged in the dancing bit

Listening to Edgar Wright watch the episode with Patton Oswalt was a blast, except when Oswalt turned into a creepy fanboy over the women in the scene and talked about nerds longing for their screen crushes. Some key moments:

• Wright asked about how US TV handles smoking and drinking, and Oswalt said that it's OK if the smoker is chastised for smoking, or the show is historic, and then he said something about being "historically in the 70s"
• Hawk the Slayer was apparently aired as backup to Saturn 3, which is a mark of how bad Hawk was
• Simon Pegg was in New York when he saw Episode 1, and he had to share his thoughts with Edgar, so he faxed his review
• They get back to riffing on Matrix 2 and 3, after discussing the thrilling nature of relatively civil political discussion scenes

posted by filthy light thief at 11:50 AM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]