Bored to Death season 3 keeps investigating with its latest ‘I Keep Taking Baths Like Lady Macbeth,’a fun and madcap half-hour that sees Jonathan (Jason Schwartzman) looking to repair his relationship with George (Ted Danson) by solving the mystery of Richard and Sons’ produce. Apart from all the subtle humor, there are a lot of strong performances and moments from “Macbeth” that make for a very strong outing.
As I mentioned in my second review of 2 Broke Girls last night, it can be difficult to find the words to analyze TV shows on a weekly basis if you’ve exhausted your overarching thoughts on a series. That said, Bored To Death creates a series that hangs together far more coherently than a three-camera sitcom, itself an interesting statement considering the show’s disconnected, wandering narrative. Irreverent though it may be, the undeniable chemistry and comic timing of its leads far eclipses that of even the most tightly woven comedies on television.
The awkwardly named ‘I Keep Taking Baths Like Lady MacBeth’had me in stiches plenty of times, mostly in spotting the jokes I wouldn’t ordinarily have seen, something Bored to Death makes great use of. I had already seen ‘MacBeth’a number of times, but it took a repeat to realize certain subtle overkills like George, Ray and Jonathan spying on Louis Green (John Hodgman) with telescopes from inside a supermarket, inconspicuously stocking paper towels in the chicken section, or placing a homing beacon on Louis, only to follow his van in their car anyway. Much of Bored to Death‘s humor one might not even think about at first, which feels very much in keeping with the exaggerated absurdity of these three nincompoops.
The meat of the story belongs to Jonathan’s efforts to repair his relationship with George from last week’s ‘We Could Sing a Duet,’here by attending couple’s counseling with George and later tailing Louis to find the source of George’s rival Andrew (Oliver Platt)’s restaurant produce. ‘I Keep Taking Baths Like Lady Macbeth’also pulls together a number of guest stars, including Sarah Silverman as George and Jonathan’s biased therapist Lori, Ted Danson’s own wife Mary Steenburgen as Josephine, George’s stoner singing instructor, and Patton Oswalt returning as Howard the spy equipment salesman. None of them distract or cramp the story, and end up contributing to the off-the-cuff absurdity of the trio’s ‘calamities’quite well.
I even like the message offered up by ‘MacBeth,’by way of Lori, that people should use their actions to show their affections rather than mindlessly rattling off apologies. The bromance between George and Jonathan is officially back on, and maybe now we can start looking deeper into that whole sperm clinic arson and ‘Jonathan’s real father’thing. Not that I don’t love seeing Louis Green and Oliver Platt bested by a madcap shopping cart race through a supermarket, but Jonathan’s development this season feels a bit too back-burnered.
In end it’s all about the groups ‘calamities,’and the way things simply fall together narratively. Women effortlessly throw themselves at George, and even Ray now that he’s carrying on with Belinda, and even the most mundane of settings can create an epic caper for the renewed bond of our three amigos.
And Another Thing…
- Last week it was a gun range, this week bocce between Ray and George. Bored to Death should always open on its leads partaking in an absurd activity.
- Good lord, Mary Steenburgen continues to age well.
- ‘Shh…those lobsters are phantoms.’— out of context quote of the week?
- The more absurd costumes the group can wear, tonight with George’s stockboy outfit, the better.
- ‘You stole my phone!”Of course I did! What a trite thing to say.’
- George apparently had a “lost weekend” in Cuba. The subject of a future episode, perhaps?
What did you think?