Second Look: Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place Season 2, Episode 19 – “Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter”

Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place Season 2, Episode 19 “Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter”
Written by Vince Calandra & Stevie Ray Fromstein
Directed by Ellen Gittelsohn
Aired March 17, 1999 on ABC

There’s no denying that the addition of Ashley and Johnny to the cast of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place hasn’t contributed to season two’s general improvement in quality; with a wider cast of personalities and dynamics to play with, the sitcom has grown its rather limited range into something much more versatile. However, it has come at a bit of a cost; by integrating Ashley, a romantic interest who is the intellectual equivalent of Berg (and has a few other traits in common with him), it has made the series a much more combative and acerbic series when she is around (“Two Guys, a Girl and a Thanksgiving”, anyone?). So it’s no surprise that Ashley’s re-emergence in “Two Guys, a Girl and Ashley’s Return (Part 2)” that the show feels a little different as it heads into the season’s final episodes, something “Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter” explicitly recognizes – and surprisingly, leans into.

“Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter”, as you might expect, is about a series of bouts, both verbal and physical, the group finds themselves entwined in. Beginning the morning after “Two Guys, a Girl and Ashley’s Return”, the series immediately finds itself establishing the previously suggested tensions between Pete and Ashley, brought to the forefront by Berg’s absence in the normal group dynamic (as he’s off working as a cut man for boxer Buster Garrett). Without him around, the group quickly descends into chaos; Ashley and Pete begin chirping benign insults at each other, and Johnny gets himself into hot water with Sharon after he consoles Pete by telling him that “girlfriends come and go, but friends are forever”.

If Berg’s night hustle as a hired doctor for an aging, clearly brain-damaged boxer wasn’t metaphor enough, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter” spends an inordinate amount of time focused on the verbal sparring occurring with the other characters in the episode. As one might expect, it makes for a loud episode full of arguments; Pete and Ashley over her already having a key to their apartment, and Johnny and Sharon over his seemingly-casual dismissal of their relationship. And as things spiral out, it seems clear that without everyone being able to direct their ire toward (or draw strange inspiration from) Berg, that the dynamic in their group becomes unsettled in ways that aren’t healthy for anyone.

It’s all fairly uninventive fair until the episode’s third act, set at Buster’s big fight (having “a shot at the guy who has a shot at the guy who has a shot at the title”), which everyone attends in support of Berg. As Buster is getting his face pummeled in, everyone coalesces around Berg, until he’s surrounded by people fighting with words and fists – and it’s not until everyone has their sights turned away from their opponents and at Berg, do any of them find their inspiration. He reminds Pete and Ashley that they are his best friend and now-girlfriend, and he’s not letting either of them out of their life; he also, hilariously, reminds Sharon and Johnny that arguing is not healthy foreplay, before trying to throw in the towel for Buster, whose brain function is clearly compromised.

When the referee refuses to let him quit, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter” does a great job of letting convention – the obvious resolutions to the dueling arguments of the episode – give way to the unconventional. Instead of losing the fight and learning his lesson, Buster knocks out his opponent and fires Berg (who he’s called Larry multiple times during the fight), even after he threatens Berg, who refuses to stand down about reporting his brain injuries to the boxing commission. Berg’s refusal to compromise is his greatest strength and biggest flaw – and how “Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter” brings that out of his character turns out to be rather fascinating, a subtle look at how his refusal to ignore the obvious, and the subsequent, often unfiltered honesty he offers, with his friends, lover, and employers, is his most valuable, endearing trait.

Berg’s always vacillated between romantic lead and comic relief on Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place – what I like about this episode is how it lands somewhere in between for the character, showing a series that can still carry itself without his constant presence, but also offering observations on the character that go behind the prototypical portrayals of his character’s (and the actor, at the time) archetype. It’s a rare bit of nuance for Berg, and something the episode offers in both comedic and dramatic fashion (Buster smashing the wall next to Berg’s face is perhaps the most terrifying, sobering moment of the entire series), to strong effect.

Though it takes a bit too much bickering to get to the point, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Fighter” does a much better job than the previous episode of bringing Ashley back into the fold in a way that makes sense for the show and character. Illogical preambles aside, it’s a strong enough episode to right the ship from its preceding two-part stumble, a sure sign the series is heading into the final episodes of the season with a bit of regained momentum – an important sign, as Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place sits on the precipice of some of the most dramatic, definitive creative changes of its four-season run.

Grade: B

Other thoughts/observations:

• “Once it opens, it never closes.” Berg: “It’s like Cats.”
  
• Pete’s reactions to Buster ordering the same slice of pizza three times is hilarious.
  
• Ashley: “I’ll have a beer for me and my friends.” “How many?” “One.”
  
• Pete continues to have nothing to do to fill his day – this week, we see him playing with pieces of soap on the couch.
  
• Johnny tells Sharon “I’m going to say a lot of stupid things in our lifetime,” reassuring Sharon that Shawn’s intrusion on their relationship was short-lived. It’s a nice moment for the couple, who will unfortunately continue to go through the relationship ringer over the next season of episodes.
  
• Berg: “I had to tell a guy the only thing he’s ever done in his life he can’t do anymore.” I like this bit, but the episode’s lack of follow-up on it is one of the episode’s weaker points.
  
• Up next: Johnny’s sisters come to visit in “Two Guys, a Girl and a Mother’s Day”.