You're the Worst: Third Season (all episodes)

March 12, 2017 8:47 PM - Season 3 (Full Season)

The gang simultaneously falls apart and grows up. Some do more of the former than the latter.

There's a baby, a divorce, a questionable engagement, a surprisingly sober look at PTSD, a wedding, a death, a stabbing, and a remarkably straightforward abortion ... even if they have to give it a cutesy name.

posted by lunasol (8 comments total)

I just spent the last few weeks bingeing this whole series, which will do pretty interesting things to a person's worldview. Anyway, I love this show but thought this season was a bit spotty, especially after the second season was close to perfect. A few thoughts:

- They really did make Paul completely unlikeable this season, didn't they? I've read the theory before about how all sitcom characters eventually become gross caricatures of themselves, and they really went there with Paul this season. He went from being an annoying but sweet geek to a completely over-the-top, gross character. Though I guess that was all to get him to the "better lawyer up, bitch" moment, which ... meh.

- On the other had, I love what they did with Edgar. One of the things that I like about this show when it's working well, is that they set up these jokes and tropes that seem pretty straightforward in a sitcom way, and then they systematically unpack them and explore what is beneath or within them. They did that last season with Gretchen's misanthropy (she's clinically depressed) and they did that this season with the joke about Edgar's bad dreams about the war (he has PTSD).

- I thought they handled Lindsey's abortion really well - it felt really true to both her and Gretchen's characters. One thing that really super bugged me though was Paul insisting Lindsey had a moral obligation to tell that stylist lady who wanted to hire her that she was pregnant. That is so not ok - it is very much not a moral obligation for a pregnant woman to tell potential employers about a pregnancy. And ... I sort of didn't really get the sense that the writers knew that? It felt to me like they played it like another situation where Paul is the morally upright one and Lindsey is the clueless selfish one. I don't know, I guess they just wanted to push Lindsey to finally be honest with Paul, but it irked me.

- The last episode, where Jimmy was at the car, I was literally saying out loud "No no no no Jimmy no don't do it" but of course he did it!
posted by lunasol at 9:07 PM on March 12, 2017

This is such a great, under-the-radar show. Everyone I've recommended it to has thanked me.

......................
One thing that really super bugged me though was Paul insisting Lindsey had a moral obligation to tell that stylist lady who wanted to hire her that she was pregnant. That is so not ok - it is very much not a moral obligation for a pregnant woman to tell potential employers about a pregnancy. And ... I sort of didn't really get the sense that the writers knew that?

I kind of think that was meant to illustrate how conservative Paul actually is.

......................
The last episode, where Jimmy was at the car, I was literally saying out loud "No no no no Jimmy no don't do it" but of course he did it!

Yeah, that was heart-breaking. Poor Gretchen. I don't like to wish ill on anyone, but I hope that event sparks a deeper exploration of her depression. I hate that we have to wait 'til freaking August for new episodes.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:27 AM on March 13, 2017

I agree that this season, while still good, was somewhat spotty. I felt most of the characters tipped just a bit too much into obnoxiousness that I stopped caring about what happened to them. That is a delicate balance for a show like this, which is built on unlikable protagonists.
posted by Falconetti at 9:43 AM on March 13, 2017

I think the thing they revealed with Paul was that he was always just as fucked up as everyone else on this show, which is why he ended up with Lindsey. Everyone else who ever encountered Lindsey -- who is on the surface a beautiful free-spirited near-Manic Pixie Dream Girl -- and wasn't themselves all fucked up realized (if only subconsciously) that they needed to stay the hell away.
posted by Etrigan at 1:30 PM on March 13, 2017

Also, wow, how do Jimmy-and-Gretchen come back from that?
posted by Etrigan at 1:30 PM on March 13, 2017

It's been quite a while since I saw the season, but I still feel like the episode about Edgar is about the most beautiful 22 minutes of television ever created.
posted by General Malaise at 11:04 PM on March 13, 2017 [4 favorites]

It definitely was Edgar's season, bless him.

When Gretchen started seeing a therapist, I hoped that we'd see more openness about her depression, but it seemed like it was an opportunity (and great guest star!) wasted to me.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:24 PM on March 14, 2017

Season 4 premiers Sept. 6!
posted by Thorzdad at 11:39 AM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]