2 Broke Girls: And The Pop Up Sale
Aired 5th July
So far this series, Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs) moves in with Max Black (Kat Dennings) after the world discovered that her father was stealing billions from his customers, and she was left ostracised from high society and penniless. The girls are trying to start a cupcake business whilst working nights in a Brooklyn diner. There’s also a horse called Chestnut. Got all that? Good. This week Caroline tries to sell her designer ring to buy Max a new oven. Sounds simple? Is anything ever simple in sitcom land?
My mother would worry if I told her that I find 2 Broke Girls relatable, but the truth is that every so often Max will make a ‘poor person comment’ and I think, ‘oh yeah, I’ve done that’. Sorry Mum. On this note, I think this week’s episode is my favourite so far. There’s something about watching two girls throw a lit match into the oven that brings back memories of endlessly trying to light the pilot light on the boiler.
That said, there are moments where it begins to slide into the melodramatic. It’s a problem that’s been present throughout the whole series; it walks along a tightrope of being funny and being ridiculous. Luckily, for the most part it comes down on the funny side, but occasionally you almost watch it whilst cringing.
The characterisation is a similar situation, Hans (Korean), Oleg (Ukranian) and Earl (African American) create the show’s ethnic mix, and whilst I’m glad that there is such a mix, I sometimes wonder if some comments cross the xenophobic/racial stereotyping line. In this episode Oleg and Hans come to blows over Oleg’s hygiene, thus ensues a fight with race related comments. Yet somehow it works, it fits with the crass vibe the sitcom gives off, showing that it doesn’t have a hatred of Asians or Eastern Europeans, but from rich to poor, through ethnicity and nationality it will mock everything mercilessly.
I think its crassness is one of the reasons that this stands out from other sitcoms. If you were to compare it to any other TV show it would be like a sitcom version of Shameless. In places these dirty jokes, hate filled comments and sarcasm work, but we’re still on that tightrope. This week it falls off the right side of the tightrope as we get to see the relationship between the two cemented and Caroline choosing Max instead of just being stuck with her. So yes there’s (SPOILER ALERT) a clichéd and oven filled happy ending, but the plot’s strong, we get to see another side of Caroline and have a few laughs along the way. It could be much worse.
Heidi Murphy
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