Perfect Couples: Perfect Crime

Ahh my first Perfect Couples review. Am I the only person covering this show who isn't being paid to? Oh well, I would've felt bad leaving it out.

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0:07 - I know this show is not long for this world, and it's not like it's setting the world on fire, but I still enjoy it. The most encouraging part from a quality standpoint is how much I enjoy the characters, because it's unusual these days for a show to have no other hook than that. Think of the large ensembles and multiple side characters that pop into Community, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks & Rec, and Outsourced (at least from the minute or so I see of it before re-watching Community), but other than Vance and Dave's secretary and a pizza guy I can't think of another character who has had dialogue on this show. Yes, the groupings are kind of simple (the "normal" couple who serve as the entry point for all of us who like to think of ourselves as normal, the crazy repressed couple, and the crazy crazy couple who are too stormy and shouldn't be with anyone) but everyone plays their character so well; especially Vance and Rex, who I'll be very sad to lose from TV when this show is inevitably canceled to make room for Law & Order: Really REALLY Bad Rapes Division in the 10pm slot.

0:09 - Vance with food poisoning: "We didn't appreciate our good health when we had it. When I get better I'm going to appreciate it every day." I can't tell you how many hangovers I've had where I've made this exact oath.

0:09 - What I love about Rex as a character, and the performance that goes into him, is it's the first time I've ever seen someone pull off deadpan excitement. Rex doesn't react to anything, but you can still tell when he gets really excited for things, and they're always such childish things. Like his obsession with having a man cave to blow off steam, when he has no steam to blow off, or how in this episode he takes every opportunity to suggest they start pranking each other. It should be grating to have two man-children on the same show, since that's what Vance and Rex are, but they still manage to be total opposites. Rex is always in control emotionally, to the point of seeming cold and lifeless, but still sees Adam Sandler movies as a template for male bonding. Vance is constantly a needy emotional wreck, but dissects situations with enough awareness and maturity to convince himself that he's above Rex's foolishness, even though he always ends up with more drama than a high school sophomore.

0:10 - The part about Dave accidentally undermining himself by buying Julia an iPhone really made me laugh. It's a fully understandable issue, to buy someone a gadget that's better than you at everything that made you feel needed. That sets up the conflict in his story for this episode, and I think it's the set-ups that these shows always falter on. The issues couples have on sitcoms are so thin and unrealistic, because if you get too real than you run the risk of it not being fun anymore. It's only been a few episodes, but so far Perfect Couples has walked that fine line...wait...wait for it...perfectly. See what I did there???

0:16 - Again, in the flashback to Rex's Mad Men party, Dave jokingly tells Julia to make him a drink and slaps her on the butt, tries to play it cool, but immediately asks Vance, "is she laughing?" There's a difference between the awkward joke that fails to endear you to someone, and the bad joke to the person you love that's going to lead to backlash rather than embarrassment. Typically in a sitcom the husband would make a fool of himself to one of his wife's friends, because that's an easier joke to write. This show didn't take the easy route and stuck to its guns that it's a show about couples, and I appreciate it for that effort.

0:17 - "That wasn't the stomach flu, you FOOD POISONED US! That seersucker suit is awesome!" Another thing I enjoy about Vance, as much as he wants to keep the pressure on Leigh to get her to admit she made everyone sick he still can't hold back on complimenting the outfit she's suggesting.

0:18 - I've been shocked at how much I like Rex and Leigh on this show. From the previews I assumed it was the usual "he's spineless and whipped, she's mean and cold" dynamic, but that's not them at all. The scene where they both eat Leigh's expired summer rolls to prove they're safe, even when they know they aren't, really sums them up. At first it seems like Rex is merely jumping on a grenade for his wife, and you'd expect her to use him and let him go right ahead and make himself sick. Instead his defiant attitude towards the badly rotten seafood is such a touching symbol of love to her that she jumps right in and eats one too. They're weirdly selfish while also being weirdly caring towards others, they're weirdly naive and aloof while also being oddly wise and indisputably successful. They work, and they're really interesting.

0:20 - Am I the only person in the world who isn't freaked out by possums? What's so terrifying about them? Then again, I refuse to be freaked out by any mammals. I mean, we're all part of the same family, right?

0:23 - "Is this possum here as the result of a classic prank? Aww, it should be! We should start pranking each other!"

So Dave and Julia conquer the possum together, and learn that they don't have "man" stuff and "woman" stuff but just "our" stuff. Aww. And Rex got pranked when they put the possum in his mailbox! His childish glee over it was a nice way to end.

Was it a half hour of television that will change the world? No. But there's a lot of crap on TV these days, so I'll cling to a show I enjoy with all my strength.

Status: *ding* 1 thumb up.