Communication is key in “Berg’s New Roommate”, a Two Guys and a Girl episode that puts aside any of the professional and existential angst of early season three episodes, and goes all-in on the simmering romantic plots intertwining the entire ensemble. The result? An incredibly messy, conflict-driven episode, one that injects a fair amount of existential conflict into both of its core relationships – some in ways that are interesting and allusive, and some that are unnecessarily shrill and undercut the very tensions being built into the episode.
After Pete’s frustrations with Ashley boil over and he confronts Berg about her presence in the apartment, Berg decides he’s also tired of the changes she’s suddenly imposed on his life – and as quickly as she moved herself in, he’s ready to move her out (all while convincing her that it’s actually Pete’s idea). It’s a fair point; after she remade his apartment in the season premiere and we watched the two convince themselves to stay living together just an episode ago, it makes sense Berg flinches when the reality begins to settle in a bit. However, seeing him regress to early season two Berg to do so is disappointing, as he tries to avoid a tough conversation with Ashley, only to eventually reveal the whole thing was about his own agency anyway – because after she finally agrees to move out, he asks her to move in again… which makes them both horny?
It’s as strange and reductive as it sounds; though if anything, it reinforces the growing notion in this season’s episodes that there’s something brewing at the core of Berg and Ashley’s relationship. One could potentially chalk the various circumstances of recent episodes up to pure sitcom happenstance – but as Two Guys and a Girl has shown in its 42-episode run, underneath all the slapstick jokes and snappy repartee there is genuine thought put into the development of larger plot lines (Pete and Melissa were a version of this back in season one, as in “Two Guys, a Girl and an Apartment”), and it’s not hard to see where the series is heading with their increasingly toxic, fragile relationship. In the present, their conflict mostly turns into a scheme for Pete to pull rent money from both of his roommates – but the obvious discomfort Berg is having adjusting to domestic life is certainly something the show’s been explicitly percolating since the season premiere.
Berg and Ashley’s conflict of trust is mirrored with Sharon and Johnny, whose engagement has already survived the “in theory” debacle and Pete’s passive interference at the end of season two. While I’ve enjoyed how Two Guys and a Girl isn’t willing to apply the Ideal Romance arc to their story – it gives contrast to Pete and Berg’s more traditional approach, both of whom are still on the hunt for the so-called “perfect woman”. This lets them both have flaws and hesitations about their compatibility, and how difficult it really can be for two people who have completely different personalities and worldviews to come together (MC Skat Kat may understand the catalyst for these relationships, but clearly not the emotional investment and work it takes), manifesting in this episode when Sharon and Johnny try to convince the priest at Sharon’s dream venue that they’re fully ready to get married (and definitely not having pre-marital sex).
Now, this would be enjoyable, if only for the presence of Stephen Tobolowsky as the inquisitive priest; where it gets a bit off-putting is in how it requires some serious regression from Sharon back into her most neurotic, counterproductive self; not only is it a version that leads her to make really dumb decisions, but it takes up so much energy in every scene, it leaves the already-soft Johnny to almost disappear within his own stories, left solely to react to Sharon as she lies to the priest by sharing a moment where Pete was incredibly supportive of her, not her potential future husband. As I’ve mentioned before, Johnny is the Goodest of Good Boys (his kiss with Shawn while they were broken up in season two notwithstanding) – Two Guys and a Girl already pushed him to the limits of believability with the whole “engagement in theory” bullshit, so seeing the series feign towards heading back down a similar road, especially involving Pete, this season feels both repetitive and entirely unnecessary.
As an episode stuck between the catalyzing and resolving events of Two Guys and Girl‘s first act of season three, it’s no surprise “Berg’s New Roommate” feels shrill and a bit incomplete; it restores the season’s status quo in the final seconds, but to what end? By the time the episode reaches its climactic moments, it is abundantly clear the show’s placed its two core relationships in untenable positions – which would be fine, if either of them had been resolved in any kind of believable way before the episode’s close, a quality the episode distinctly lacks.
Other thoughts/observations:
- The venue Sharon wants is the same church where her mother married her “favorite stepfather”.
- “You can scrub all you want, that’s still your face!”
- Ashley and Pete have heart to heart: “You don’t think much of me, and I think you’re a turd”.
- There is a great scene where Ashley is trying to negotiate staying in the apartment behind Berg’s back with Pete, where he analogues her various incentives as music pulling him onto the dance floor. I know the show defaults to their interactions being particularly acidic – this exchange kind of proves the counterpoint could’ve been even more rewarding.
- Ashley, to Berg: “I don’t think we’ve ever done it your way before.”
- Sharon: “Who needs counseling?” Johnny: “We do. Big time.”
- Up next: Berg and Ashley pay a visit to the Bergen family home in “Foul Play”.