The seeds of romantic discontent were planted all over the first half-dozen episodes of Two Guys and a Girl‘s third season, and in “Foul Play”, they begin to bubble to the surface for the show’s pair of established couples. What’s interesting is not that the episode is full of romantic conflict in ways that consumes all five of the show’s main characters, but in how it manifests those conflicts through the presumably healthy sex lives of the young couples, drawing a neat distinction between the couple it is interested and invested in – and the one it surprisingly isn’t.
“Foul Play” opens with a pair of simple premises, tied to a singular idea: both Berg and Sharon are unhappy with the current spiciness of their relationships, and are unsure of how to fix it, seeking out refuge in familiar places; Berg with his parents (taking Ashley on a surprise trip he lies about the destination of), and Sharon, somewhat awkwardly, with Pete. At the beginning, it feels like Two Guys and a Girl pairs these stories together for dramatic reasons; after all, the last two episodes have gone to great lengths to show Berg’s dissatisfaction with his newfound domestic life, and much of the last dozen-plus episodes of the series has half-assedly explored what Sharon and Pete really mean to each other, with the occasional suggestion that Sharon and Johnny’s very distinct personalities may be too incongruous for a successful marriage.
But it quickly becomes clear that the episode is operating on two completely different wavelengths emotionally; where Berg’s trip to his parent’s house in Albany with Ashley is shown to be a desperate attempt to kick up conflict in their relationship (the only time Berg feels their life is exciting), and where Sharon confides her frustrations in Pete simply to try and find a way to get Johnny into anything but the missionary position (“at this point, we owe the missionary commission”, she jokingly tells Pete). While the two stories are about fundamental shortcomings in their relationships, “Foul Play” makes it quite clear that Berg’s problems are much more existential, and harder to solve, than Sharon’s issues getting Johnny to mix it up a bit more during their post-Ted Koppel lovemaking sessions.
For the most part, Sharon and Pete’s attempts to stir up some sexual creativity in Johnny are harmless; although one does wonder why Sharon keeps poking the proverbial bear, knowing full well that a few weeks of hanging out just don’t erase the fact Pete took a trip halfway across the world to avoid seeing Sharon get engaged (in theory!) to Johnny. That elephant is definitely in the corner of the room in “Foul Play”, when Sharon notes she probably shouldn’t talk to Pete about it at all – though ultimately, it does seem like Johnny’s concerns come out of an incredibly conservative view on sex, rather than her thumbing through Pete’s copy of the Kama Sutra (which he keeps hidden in his couch pillow, which he thinks is easy access?). And yes, it ultimately is a plot that uses Pete as a lever of humor more than drama, resolving the story with Johnny simply agreeing to be more horny: a nice resolution to Sharon and Johnny’s persistent, layered communication problem, but one that goes about its business in the most awkward way possible – though perhaps the only one, given Berg and Ashley spend most of the episode in upstate New York.
The real arc of “Foul Play” comes from Berg and Ashley, who end the episode by breaking up, after a trip upstate only causes drama with Berg’s mother (who just can’t believe anyone is good enough for her dearest Mikey, of course), as Berg fights to try and put a spark back into his suddenly-mundane relationship with Ashley. And it’s really just not a good episode for Berg, whose character gets stuck somewhere between the season one and season two versions of himself, selfishly sabotaging a perfectly functional relationship in pursuit of some kind of undefined, amorphous concept of something “perfect” – or at least, something that resembles his parents’ relationship a bit more, especially after his dad (guest star Steve Landesberg, in his only appearance in the series) points out that while fighting leads to fun sex, it’s feeling that passion and love in the quiet moments in between, in the time we spend most of our adult lives with our partners, that should be the true barometer of happiness in a relationship.
As the cold open of “Foul Play” shows, Berg doesn’t feel that with Ashley – and even if she does feel it in those moments, Berg is not capable of going through the motions, in the hopes that one day he’ll be attracted to her when he isn’t full of rage. Ultimately, I don’t think “Foul Play” does a great job expressing this as it surfaces in Berg, something that is both a limitation of performance and the fact the show’s a sitcom; 22 minutes of jokes and silly situations don’t naturally endear themselves to longer, serialized arcs about two characters – especially one like Ashley, whose whole presence in the group has been defined over the past season by her proximity with Berg.
Their breakup, in that way, is the most interesting part of the episode, presenting itself with the opportunity to begin defining Ashley outside of the strict confines she’s been in since her introduction (except for the brief appearance of her ex-husband, which really just raises more questions than answers, the more you think about it). Ashley’s presence has strictly been as an antagonist to Pete and Berg so far; a single Ashley allows Two Guys and a Girl an opportunity to further establish her as her own character in the coming episodes (though Two Guys and a Girl would continue to reduce her to whomever her romantic partner was, at different points in the next two seasons); and it feels like the series recognizes this, as Ashley and Berg’s breakup happens fairly quickly, and doesn’t really seem to disturb the already-acidic rapport the two shared. It’s anticlimactic, but appropriately so, yet another reminder that Two Guys and a Girl is always changing, always willing to try something different as it grows and matures as a series – even in lesser moments like “Foul Play”, that commitment is still impressive, and applies well to a relationship that had clearly run its course throughout season two.
“Foul Play” is not a particularly memorable or effective episode; but it is an episode that reinforces some of the core values of both season three, and the series as a whole. It does so in a bit of roundabout fashion, of course, but knowing where the series would eventually go, “Foul Play” is another step in a new direction for a sitcom that, despite being fairly typical in its jokes and narrative structure, was never content with just being who it was – this episode might approach that a bit awkwardly, but ultimately, the episode ends with the season in a much more interesting place than it began – and with a bit of solidifying foundation under Johnny and Sharon, feels like a series willing to commit wholeheartedly to the elements it can tell are working.
Other thoughts/observations:
- Pete, upon learning Ashley went to bed: “I thought I heard a coffin close.”
- Pete again, this time trying to poke Johnny about his sex skills: “I bet he knows over 40 ways to make love to a woman!”
- Wait… Ashley is a Republican? Oh no.
- I really wish we had the dinner scene with Ashley and Berg’s mother taking potshots at each other.
- Berg has a brother because Berg’s father told his mother to get in the kitchen and make him a sandwich. Hilarious!
- Yes, this show is now weirder to watch after seeing Nathan Fillion in the Guy Gardner wig (and gold tooth).
- Up next: Ashley chooses chaos for Thanksgiving 1999 in “Talking Turkey”.