2 Broke Girls - 1x10 - And The Very Christmas Thanksgiving

Okay so, after ten mediocre episodes, I think the best thing we can take away from this show is that Beth Behrs should really get more work after this whole...thing is finally over and done with. If Tom Hanks can come out of Bosom Buddies, Behrs should at least be able to get a season or two's work on a more deserving show. This show's potential may fluctuate wildly from week, but the one thing that's consistently enjoyable is her portrayal of Caroline as a fully-rounded, pragmatic, yet consistently optimistic young woman. Ironically it took an episode where all that comes tumbling down in a manic, violent, upper fueled, elf-pixie-filled mental breakdown to really appreciate that.

Now to be fair, that credit must be given equally to the writers. It's doubtful Behrs ad libs all (or even any) of her lines, reactions, or plots. Someone in the writers room has to have made a conscious choice to make her a real person instead of a lazy Paris Hilton clone. Of course that also means someone, possibly the same person, made the decision to turn Max into the ungrateful, whiny, unfunny one-liner tossing, perpetually smirking ass she usually is, and that makes no sense to me. Though I suppose equal blame must also be laid on Kat Dennings feet for consistently questionable delivery choices, so what're you gonna do?

Surprisingly enough, this is probably the one episode where Max isn't a giant ass for 98% of it. Oh, she's still dropping stinkers left and right, but Max-the-friend is actually thoughtful, caring, and a pretty decent human being all around here. She's sensitive to how spending her first holiday away from her dad (and money) might be sad for Caroline, even before Caroline does. She repeatedly checks in with her to see how she's feeling. She offers genuine sympathy and understanding. When Caroline misunderstands her intentions, Max reasonably explains that she doesn't want her to feel bad, but to understand that it's okay to feel bad. And when Caroline stupidly wrecks the electric mixer that must not only be a prized possession (based on monetary value alone), but a critical part of how they make their living...Caroline just calmly recites an almost-but-not-quite clever funny joke instead of throttling her, as others might have. It's one of the few times in this show where we see why Max might actually be a cool friend to have, someone you'd want to hang out with. It was...really nice. I liked that. Let's see what we can do about those "jokes" she likes to toss around, though.

But all the sympathy and understanding in the world though can't help Caroline when she shotguns an entire bottle of  9 Hour Energy Shot  Elf Juice and has a sugar/caffeine/meth/emotional crash in the middle of the Santaland Elf Changing Room. Even though she'd taken the damned thing in order to have the energy to get through the early morning Black Friday shift (which she and Max had signed up for in order to get money for a new mixer), the thing barely lasted the commute to the store. She should ask for her money back. Right after she's done realzing how her entire life has come crashing down around her and the meaning of Christmas is all hogwash and crass commercialism and why oh why doesn't her daddy want to see her? Despite Max's gentle (well, for her) urgings, Caroline flips out in front of a group of little kids in line to see Santa. Right as she's about to drop The Truth About Santa on the little snot factories, Mary Fucking Christmas comes out of nowhere and body checks her into the scenery. Okay, it was more of a gentle push, but in my version, she straight up shoulder punts her skinny ass.

Caroline blows through the DT's by the time they make it back home, and despite the fact that she got them both fired and sentenced them to having to mix scores of future cupcakes with nothing but a wooden spoon, Max is actually pretty forgiving and easy on Caroline. Aw.

Another aw? The reason Caroline needed that energy drink in the first place was because she'd convinced Han to open up the diner on Thanksgiving to the homeless. Max, of her own volition, volunteered them to work for free, Earl brought the pies, and even Effing Oleg tossed in a fat wad to pay for the turkeys. Much like Max's date episode a few weeks ago, it was nice to see these crass one-note so-racists-you'd-think-it-was-the-80's stereotypes given a chance to show actual humanity and good will. Less one-note idiocy, more nice, friendly employees, please.