About a Boy - Episode 2.05 - About an Angry Ex - Review

Well, we all knew this day was coming. One of Will’s former 8-night stands has sued him for royalties for “Runaway Sleigh,” his non-stop cash flow machine of a song. Ok, sure I didn’t know this exact day was coming, but a semi-recovering, self-proclaimed “lady killer” like Will was bound to catch some grief from an emotionally abused former flame.

The lady is question is one Stacy the Pilates Instructor. After the aforementioned 8-night stand years earlier when Will was in the middle of writing his holiday hit, Stacy was tossed aside by Lady Killer Will. Cut to a few months prior to the episode, and Fiona tells Stacy that she deserves more than Will (who was in New York at the time with Dr. Sam). Stacy misinterprets to mean that she deserves more financially, hence the current lawsuit. Against logic and actual legal council on behalf of Laurie, Will seeks out Stacy and tries to change her mind. First Fiona heads to her Pilates class to inform Stacy of the true meaning of her advice, and ends up consoling her after Stacy breaks down in class. Then Will goes to apologize, and ends up sleeping with Stacy (duh), assuming she’ll drop the lawsuit (sure, Will), although she won’t (again, duh). As Laurie says to Will earlier in the episode, “You’re lucky you have good hair, because you are the dumbest, just the dumbest individual I have ever met!” Oh Will. Sweet, Will. You are pretty dumb sometimes.

On the Laurie front -- can I just say that she’s significantly more palatable when nowhere near Andy? Her annoyance with Will as she provided him with legal council was completely justified, and her face when Will told her to stop obsessing about his penis was fantastic. Yay Laurie! Just stay out of scenes with your husband!

Fiona is still in her doula phase at the moment, though I’m not entirely sure that watching YouTube videos of women giving gravity-assisted birth in the Amazon qualifies one to become a doula. Actually I am entirely sure that it doesn’t. Laurie seems to feel the same way, as she, her husband, and Fiona all gather around a laptop to watch one such video. I’m curious to see how far she takes her doula desire, and whether she’ll still be “employed” by Andy and Laurie by the time their baby comes around. That being said, Fiona does do her best to help out Will with his Stacy-situation, both in talking to Stacy on his behalf, and by trying to tell him how to make it right with her. It’s hard to choose the best Fiona line from the episode, since everything Minnie Driver says sounds cool, but I’ll have to go with: “Perhaps if the blood that was supposed to feed your brain wasn’t CONSTANTLY being redirected elsewhere, you’d be able to think more clearly.”

This episode wasn’t really about a Boy at all, but Marcus’ story was little and sweet. Although he wouldn’t directly disobey his mother by spending time with Shea outside of school, he tried to exploit the loophole as much as possible, and literally stalk her during school. His intricately-planned and near constant stalking was well-intentioned, but as Shea pointed out to him, it was a little creepy. Marcus is clearly fascinated by this very different girl, going so far as to buy approximately 15 different kinds of gum in order to offer her a variety should she want a piece. The little series of vignettes set-up the Marcus/Shea relationship for future episodes, and showed that Shea is intrigued by “Pasty,” the enthusiastic and thoughtful stalker. Also, is Shea basically Little Tibby (Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants)? Let me know what you think.

This episode showed the real consequences of Will’s former lifestyle, and once again, how he’s made (some) strides over the past…year? Or however much time has past since the pilot in About a Boy world. As he mentions to Stacy, he’s got better people in his life now that help him to make better choices. He’s an “ambiguously parental figure” and friend to his young neighbor, and his young friend’s mom is actually pretty good at giving advice. Which he often fails to take. But maybe one day the “puny shrub of disappointment” will grow into that great big moral tree, or something like that. For now, it looks like Will’s past has caught up with him, and he’s got to figure his way out of a potentially difficult lawsuit. Or, you know, get a job. I wouldn’t recommend he take up doula-ing though, as his first reaction upon seeing a birthing video was, “That is NOT what vaginas are FOR!”*

What did you think of the episode? Do you think Will got what he deserved with Stacy? Do you think he’ll win or lose the lawsuit? Is Marcus’ focus group to make him cooler going to be a success? Has Fiona found her long-term career as a doula? Let us know below?

*Side note: Can I hear a “what what!” for S&P allowing for more equity re: penis/vagina mentions on television?

About the Author - Kimberly

Kimberly is a big TV nerd - willing to talk any show, any time. Her tastes are various and sundry, but she’s got a soft spot for comedy. She currently writes the SpoilerTV reviews for Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and About a Boy.

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