Second Look: Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place Season 2, Episode 6 – “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween”

Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place Season 2, Episode 6 – “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween”
Wirrten by Stevie Ray Fromstein
Directed by Michael Lembeck
Aired October 28, 1998 on ABC

From the moment its begins with an anthology-esque title card, it’s clear “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” is a very different episode of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, one not beholden to the traditional sitcom format employed in its first 18 episodes. And though it is a non-canonical holiday episode where a crazed Berg impersonator kills the entire cast, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” is actually a prescient preview of the creative freedom the series would continue to embrace throughout the series, an early, exciting reminder of some of the show’s most creative endeavors to come – and is itself a funny, if incredibly silly, homage to serial killer films of the 1970s and 80s.

Written by former Roseanne writer Stevie Ray Fromstein, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” gleefully throws itself outside of reality in its cold open, where an apparently unhinged Berg kills class nerd Kayem, setting off a chain of events inside the guys’ apartment, and later, the pizza shop (a lack of external settings clearly freeing up budget for all the Halloween costumes), killing his way through the main cast increasingly ludicrous fashion. Smartly set at Berg and Pete’s big Halloween party, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” smartly indulges in the traditional TV Halloween hijinks (amusing costumes like Pete as the Empire State Building, or Sharon as a very immobile mermaid) while also letting Killer Berg’s emergence act as a catalyst for the more ridiculous mix of slapstick and homage that takes over the episode’s second half, when it moves from preamble into it’s (mostly offscreen) bloody action.

There are a few nascent connections to the ‘real’ world of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place – specifically, Johnny and Sharon’s budding relationship and their odd propensity for arguing (this time over Johnny not wearing the fisherman costume Sharon got him so they’d have a couples costume) – but for the most part, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” spends most of its time letting Ryan Reynolds run with the part of Killer Berg – which admittedly, leaves a bit of meat on the bone in terms of how unhinged and *wink, wink*-y it gets, but works as an amusing little set piece for him to drop one-liners and thinly-veiled allusions to his murderous actions and intentions around Boston.

It’s just not a concept the sitcom can carry consistently for 22 minutes, especially given it really only contains three scenes; the opening sequence revealing the ingenious premise of the episode, Pete and Berg’s party scene – which has the most drag of the three, relying a little too much on Crazy Berg schtick as it sets up its big finale – and the scene in the pizza place, where the trio (and what’s left of Johnny) meet their fate in a confused frenzy, unable to tell regular Berg from Killer Berg. There are plenty of good moments in that finale scene, like Pete stabbing regular Berg with his costume hat, or Sharon finding peace in knowing Johnny hadn’t ditched her at the party – but even then, one can feel the conceit starting to stretch itself thin, as the homages give way to the goofy final act twist – that Killer Berg is in fact The Drew Carey Show‘s Mimi Bobeck, who killed off everyone in the Two Guys and Girl-iverse so she could have a spinoff all to herself.

An incredibly dumb ending, yes, but it’s one that reveals some of the show’s larger ambitions, which we’d see in a few episodes this season, and at least once in both seasons three and four. Though Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place often lived comfortably within the known parameter of its sitcom genre, these outside-the-box episodes, led by “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” are an insight into the goofy, referential heart of the series, embracing the rare opportunity to step outside of its genre and normal rhythms for more abstract, experimental storytelling, something that allows the series to indulge some creative itches, but also continue to observe and build on the chemistry between its lead characters.

Though undeniably a silly and pointless episode, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” is a underhanded preview of some of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place‘s best episodes, when the series unmoors itself from its inconsistent recurring stories and emotions, and allows itself to paint with different colors, different brushes – and in the case of at least one episode, explore a completely different, abandoned audio/visual narrative experience. It’s not a perfectly calibrated episode, no, but the creativity and verve of “Psycho Halloween” easily ranks it among the best episodes of the series, a memorable excursion that belongs on any Halloween episode playlist worth its salt.

Grade: B+

Other thoughts/observations:

• “Berg, you scared me half to death!” “… well, let me talk care of the other half!”
  
• Ashley’s costume (that of a Titanic victim) is probably my favorite of the group.
  
• Real Berg’s Halloween prank this year was a fake spider, which pales in comparison to the year he convinced Pete he was shrinking.
  
• Next week’s ‘preview’ plays over the closing credits, showing a bunch of empty sets – it’s both funny and a bit creepy, a perfect capper to this silly episode.

Up next: Pete puts himself into an awkward position in “Two Guys, a Girl and an Internship”.