TV Review: THE INBETWEENERS, 3.3 'Will's Dilemma'
A 'Sophie's Choice' for the modern generation of crass, socially awkward teenagers: the slight, episode three presented Will with the troubling dilemma of whether to go out with Tara's gigantically tall friend, or dump her and miss the opportunity of a dead-cert blow job. Troubling, complex material indeed. Add to that Neil's attempt to find ten guests to invite to his 18th birthday party, despite only having three actual friends and you have two plot-lines that converge wonderfully with inevitably squirmy embarrassment all round.
Easily the funniest episode of the series so far thanks largely to the Neil/Jay dynamic, the third of this third series was almost a return to the earlier form of series one and two. But not quite...
Read on the read my review of 'Will's Dilemma'.
There was a lot to love in this third episode, from the opening motorbike crash, to Will's actually pretty uncomfortable treatment of his giantess prospective girlfriend Kerry (Abbey Mordue), even if it is he who skirts close to self-parody this time around. Personally, my favourite comic touch was the inventive way in which Jay continually mocked Simon's every mention of Tara voicing his disapproval of the frequency of such mentions.
The opening sequence featuring Jay's bold claims of being a former stunt bike rider and the hilarious denouement of him crashing neil's brand new motorbike head-first into a shop front was definitely one of the high-point of the series so far. In the previous two episodes, the show had began to ebb towards self-parody, with Neil's moronic capacity and slow-motion robot dancing, and particularly Jay's increasingly outlandish lies, but episode three went some way to redressing the balance. Jay's lies worked far better this time around with the tragedy of his compulsion far more obvious than it has been - Jay is quickly actually becoming the butt of all the jokes in 'The Inbetweeners'.
The final funny progression of that self-victimisation was the moment when Will poked fun at him and was berated by Simon for over-stepping the mark, despite Jay having just been talking about how girls can't ride motorbikes without "creaming their knickers". Ludicrous but great to watch. That the eventual respite from Jay's lying and grotesqueness came by him being upset by Will's verbal retribution was both funny and a clever misdirection, and fitted perfectly with Will's episodic persecution complex.
Last episode, on the introduction of Simon's love interest Tara I said I felt she might add to the dynamic between the four characters. She has, but not in the way I had initially hoped; in fact, following the trend set by all of the other female characters, Tara's main attribute is her otherness. Her lifestyle and culture are entirely impenetrable to the lads and her alien presence within the group unsettles them: but this is no social commentary, nor is it sexual - the relationship with Tara is merely another potential avenue for Simon to embarrass himself further.
It might have been nice for Tara to be a fully rounded character, but then that approach wouldn't have fit with the rest of the show. Okay so there aren't any female characters who are any more than caricatures or even ciphers; but in this world girls are indeed alien at least through the eyes of the socially inadequate, repulsively awkward teen boys.
Finally, a note on Will's character genesis. As I read it, the series depends on the audience's sympathy for Will - he is the most intelligent of the group and views the various idiosyncrasies and tragi-comic happenings within that group with something like the same morbid disgust/fascination that we do. He is our in-point to watch the fun, and even if Simon is the bumbling heart of the show, it is Will that we usually stand metaphorically alongside as we watch. Oddly, this third series, and this third episode in particular has sought to change that - first off he abused his wheel-chair bound nemesis in The Fashion Show (though he was an enormous twat, admittedly), and now he rather unforgivably goes over the top on his break-up with Kerry. I realise we are supposed to remember that Will isn't exactly good with people- he is a borderline sociopath in other terms- but this was too far down on the side of malice. The question it raised has to be addressed: how are we supposed to feel about him now?
Overall I liked about two thirds of the episode - its high points are definitely the highest points of the series so far, but there were way too many instances where the humour seemed contrived. My favourite comic moments from the show so far (usually in the first two series) have been when it has been based around exaggerated realism. Like 'The Office', like 'Peep Show', and like 'The IT Crowd' to a lesser extent, the comedy always worked best when we can recognise grains of truth, and those grains are exaggerated to make us recognise the discomfort of the situation. When contrived, the jokes lack that sizzle, and seem far too cartoonish (and a little sketch-show like occasionally) to fit the overall tone of what has come before. The identity crisis needs to be sorted out, and it needs to be high on the agenda, or audiences may end up left wondering what tone they are supposed to accept.
However, the show still punches its weight, and hasn't yet overstayed its welcome: as long as they stick with the characters and not change them irretrievably (which we can only hope of Will), the third series will go down almost as well as the first two.
WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer CAST: Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Emily Atack & Emily Head TRANSMISSION: 13 September 2010 - E4/HD, 10PM
Dan Owen reviewed the season premiere, 'The Fashion Show'.
Simon Gallagher reviewed episode two, 'The Gig and the Girlfriend'.