ABC's Trophy Wife - Episode 1.06 Halloween
Halloween is Jackie and Bert's most favorite holiday, but when Jackie's homemade Iron Man costume doesn't turn out the way Bert had intended, Kate swoops in and hijacks the holiday. Meanwhile, Pete suspects a masked trick-or-treater as the same teenage misfit who egged the house and mooned him last year, so he holds the kid hostage trying to force a confession.
So far, Trophy Wife has had some highs - the Kate/Meg breakup episode - and some lows - the 80s-themed episode. "Halloween" basically falls directly in the middle. It's extremely pleasant especially with the main story but ultimately doesn't fell like it is firing on all cylinders."Halloween" was the best attempt at humanizing Jackie. Her over-the-top wackiness is very humorous and Michaela Watkins is so good at doing it. At the same time though, it feels much more caricature-y than the rest of the show around her. Bert is the most consistent comedic voice on the show and her little moments wanting to be a good parent for him are her character's strongest ones. Her little passive aggressiveness with Kate in this episode was really strong and entertaining.
I really did not care for the B-plot with Pete holding a kid hostage at all. It didn't feel natural nor like it had enough story even with so much time allotted to it. It reaffirmed that while Bradley Whitford is utterly charming, Pete is not the absolute best person in the world. It also was a bit contradictory of what we know about his character. He doesn't like to confront any of the main characters on the show and yet he'll do so with such ease with this teenager. The story also included Warren recovering from a dental procedural and Hilary thinking the holiday is pointless. Those threads never went anywhere meaningful to the story. And the resolution was the only thing we should have expected.
But hey, the show got to stage Tony Stark appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. And that was one utterly charming tag scene.
Some more thoughts:
- Both Jackie and Diane's costumes were over-the-top and great. However, I do appreciate that the show went more low-key with the rest of the characters.
- Where did Kate get that centaur costume so quickly?
- Last week Trophy Wife was obsessed with the 80s. This week Trophy Wife loves Iron Man. Too much corporate synergy?
- And it was yet another week with no mention of Meg.
- BERT!!!
