Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later: Lunch
August 8, 2017 3:56 PM - Season 1, Episode 4 - Subscribe

Gary shows off what ten years of culinary training can do. Susie shows how still she can be. Coop shows what a liar he is. And Logan shows the kids a little something about improv. With extra buns!

CAMP FIREWOOD! Coop steals a few precious moments away for his precious words, before Katie - who I guess doesn't know what writing looks like either - interrupts for some talking in circles. It's pretty fresh, and definitely hot, but her interruption is soon interrupted by yet another interrupter. Names aren't always easy, but Ginny (which is her name) is sure easy on the eyes and on Coop's heart, which is probably why she's his fiancée. Katie runs off, her eyes considerably less easy than they were a moment earlier.

CREDITS!

Mitch, having braved the waterfall, is now hitching his way back to civilization. A friendly big-rig driver pulls over from the long haul to help him out, and the two get lunch. Mitch gets a little something off-menu as well, but while his new compatriot might know the open road, he knows nothing about etiquette or discretion. Mitch has him pull over. Ol' Trucks Gearshift can't go where Mitch is going anyhow: Over a mountain, through the woods, onto the beach to meet a man in a trailer. A man formerly known only as Jonas, and before and after that known only as Gene.

Back at Camp, Ginny charms the pants off of everyone around her, telling the story of meeting Coop and walking along the Hudson, etc. To be fair, Katie seems less charmed than the others, but still: Thank the gods Faison was able to cover her! When it comes time to explain the Spirit of Camp Firewood, everybody gets a chance to really bring this lovely newcomer into the fold. Basically, if Alanis Morisette had written "Ironic" in Bizarro World, that would be the Spirit of Camp Firewood. Ginny thinks this is all pretty weird, which is understandable - it's the sort of thing that clearly has to be experienced rather than explained to you, hopefully when you're young and impressionable, but Katie takes the chance to bear her teeth about it like she didn't dis the totem two episodes back.

**WARNING! LOGAN ST. CLAIR SIGHTING COMING UP!**

Susie and Graham tip-toe their way over to the theatre to find none other than LOGAN ST. FUCKING CLAIR teaching the Drama for Beginners class! The two hug it out before demonstrating a deeply emotional improv exercises that might have been too advanced for the class but really shows off their range and ability to pretend to resent the hell out of one another. There's still some give and take about who owns the theatre itself, but as long as Graham was fooled, as far as I'm concerned they can share it!

McKinley explains his earlier misunderstand vis-a-vis Renata to Claire, who in turn explains that that's just part of Renata's plan to tear his and Ben's lives and family apart, but Claire is kind of bored by this whole conversation. Abby notices Team Tigerclaw traipsing the grounds and asks about them, even though she really should have just been involved when the others recently stormed Beth's office.

Gary grouses about the meal, which sure isn't the grouse they've got on tap at Tigerclaw, and they scheme to have the now-skillful line-cook whip up something more suitable. Of course, he's gonna need some things, which Renata is happy to pick up, but McKinley needs some jelly remover for his photo albums so he comes along as well.

JJ is finally getting a moment alone with Graham in order to ask him what the title of the movie about his life would be. Susie is managing the interview, which means that there are no black-and-tans and I guess that Graham and JJ aren't truly "alone." JJ's questioning leads Garth down a path of destiny with Susie smiling and waiting at the end of it and JJ has to give them a minute. They are actually having pints. Just not black and tans.

THere's a lot going on here, but the gist is that Garth MacArthur loves Susie, and Susie just might be on board for that, and as if to underline the point, Garth steps outside for a moment to startle the hell out of JJ and Victor by singing as much. After giving them the requested minute, JJ heads back inside to finish the interview.

Abby finds Victor on the porch playing the harmonica, because his uncle was in jail, you know, but he's just worried about sleeping with Donna later. Abby thinks it all has something to do with Victor being a virgin, which he tries to deny, but Abby's no fool and knows how to check for that sort of thing. She leaves Victor with arguably more on his mind than when she arrived.

At the Waterville General Store, which has improved nicely since the last time Victor was there buying condoms ten years ago after it was blown up by the Falcon earlier that afternoon, McKinley and Renata get to know each other a little better and have a few laughs while Renata buys a big knife and practices stabbing and throat-cutting.

In a montage worthy of Top Chef, Gary truly shows that his chef skills are the topmost. He presents Mac & Cheese cooked two ways, one of which really finds the heat in Spanish Manchego. As thrilling and impressive as it is, Ginny is more concerned with the fact that Coop has never mentioned Katie in any stories. Coop tries to play it off like he hasn't been flat-out lying to the greatest woman who will ever come into his life or later step out of it, but the rest of the table sees what's going on. Especially Abby, who clears the air by explaining what a liar Coop is and the deeply-felt romantic history that entwines he and Katie still and which he was obviously attempting to hide from Ginny. It goes over semi-well. Abby Bernstein: She values honesty.

Garth and Susie are ready to announce their love to the world (which Garth kinda already did) and Nurse Nancy arrives with a call for that very Garth, explaining some Americanisms along the way. McKinley is still concerned, mostly about Renata and the knife she bought, and relates his fears to Claire, getting her halfway to agreeing to go halfway in with him on this. Gary's food is good enough for him to open his own restaurant. This has always been Gary's dream, to have his own place right on Union Square (which, eek. Though Chat 'n' Chew is re-opening, I guess?)

Coop stops Ginny from packing her bags with some skillful nursery rhymes, but when she asks about other camp flings, he sure doesn't bring up Donna, so I guess a zebra can't change his stripes, eh Coop?

Gene has made a life for himself in the trailer with a pitcher and a very generous fridge, but somehow Mitch knows it's not enough. The two talk it out, and then fight it out, in a scene worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as that Kill Bill scene that it's a lot like. In the end, they set off for Greenwich Village and the only two troubadours that can help them now: Soul Glimmer.

a.k.a Eric and Greg, both of whom you thought were dead.

Random Notes: apparently Waterville was a test market for Mike's Hard Lemonade, which wasn't in most stores in 1991.
posted by Navelgazer (7 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
McKinley saying that he needs to go to the general store to get "jelly remover for a photo album"...Nice obscure Stella reference: (Skip ahead to 2:34.)
posted by doctornecessiter at 9:20 AM on August 9, 2017 [5 favorites]


Coop's line about "the flings of the Frisbee" still has me chuckling days later.
posted by Clustercuss at 10:10 AM on August 9, 2017


How young is your fiancée, Coop? She looks younger than you did when you were still a camp counselor, Coop! Is she even out of high school, Coop? That's gross, Coop.

I suppose Garth is kinda young too but that's Hollywood.
posted by ckape at 4:58 PM on August 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


I *loved* Gene and Mitch's conversation and fight.
posted by Pronoiac at 9:39 PM on August 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


I think the fight in the trailer was the first time during this series that I actually laughed out loud. It was perfect.
posted by SeedStitch at 12:46 PM on August 14, 2017


How young is your fiancée, Coop?
She's thirty in real life and I don't think she's styled to look younger than that.
posted by Margalo Epps at 9:52 PM on November 10, 2017


(It's a joke about Michael Showalter being 31 when the original came out)
posted by ckape at 9:47 PM on November 14, 2017


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