Walter throws an epic party to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the end of the Falklands War.
At times, "I Brought a Petting Goat!" feels like a finale. It features callbacks to so many of the individual stories from throughout the season. Elements that return in this episode include Walter's friends from the bar, the adventures from the porn studio, the time spent at the sex addicts meeting, the conversation about circumcision, the people from Bertie's school, etc. All of them are able to come together in really intricate ways when Walter and Harry throw a party to celebrate the ending of the Falklands War. This episode felt like what the entire season was building towards. Did it touch on everything that has happened? No, it did not. It still leaves a couple of things over-ended with Rosalie, Jim and Celia. Stuff that will probably be addressed in next week's actual finale. And yet, this does feel like a very strong place to end Walter for the season.The show started with Walter experiencing this very public and horrifying scandal. It was a series of outrageous events that kept escalating despite them not being all that good in defining a solid character. The show has been able to move away from that night and develop Walter as a character more. He has proven himself to be a good friend and family man when he wants to be. Yes, he has these sexual tendencies that can trump anything else he is feeling. But it is satisfying to see that he's not just searching this party for sex. Sex has dominated the conversation with so many characters. This party basically pairs everyone up in order to do the deed. Everyone except Walter. He finds himself in a place of pure contemplation. Everyone else may just be having a good time. But he remembers what this celebration actually means to him. That's so much more rewarding for the character than whether or not he can get lucky.
Walter's life is very chaotic and often a mess. And yet, he has surrounded himself with these people who are just as messed up as he is which offers him a way to life in this world. Everyone in this show's universe has problems. Most of them revolve around sex and drugs. It's just an everyday occurrence that can help heighten or dull the senses. It took awhile for that fact to be made clear on the show though. The early episodes of this season still aren't that great - even in hindsight. And yet, the fact that those individual stories didn't work then but could work now shows that the narrative has a strong sense of itself. It doesn't always work. Dr. Weiss is still very bothersome as a character. He mostly exists so that other characters can say some information about their backstory to help the audience understand why they are reacting in such a way. The stuff with Brett Gelman's porn studio owner and the sex addicts meeting didn't really work as episodic stories. But here when they aren't asked to completely carry the episodes with their sheer outrageousness, they add to the overall fun and chaos of the episode.
Most importantly, this episode is just a lot of fun to watch. Sure, it still feels like most of these characters are only broadly defined - especially the recurring faces. But the show manages itself so well in this kind of calculated chaos. The individual stories are still moving forward in predictable ways. Harry is getting closer to the porn actress who's interested in him. Jim and Celia continue their playful and drunk banner while not really dealing with their own problems. Rosalie is still pining after Martin for reasons she doesn't really understand until she starts talking about them. All of these stories are formulaic. And yet, this episode makes them rewarding for the people who have watched the entire season. This is the reward for making it through the past eight episodes. It gets the audience to recognize all the things the show has done this year and points them out in a new and fun way. It's always apparent what the episode is trying to do. All of these elements don't naturally go together. Putting them together is a way to address that while also creating a bunch of unique comedic pairings.
Even though Walter is still forced to do things he doesn't want to do, he is still afforded these moments to truly enjoy life. He is content with his life. It has been scary one. But it's one that he has lived nevertheless. This episode does rely on its main gimmick. But its ability to just dive into it with so much conviction makes the concept very well executed. Again, it's very hard to say what the series will actually do for its final episode of the year. In fact, this episode may dramatically effect how next week's finale plays. This episode felt like a proper way to end the characters. Yes, all the stories still have much further they can logistically go. The show has been building towards many other things that weren't inherently paid off in this episode. But they don't have to be neatly resolved by season's end either. It still feels like the show is building towards some big romantic moment between Celia and Jim. And yet, the way that this episode ended their story - with Jim retrieving her purse and not taking advantage of her like he clearly wants - is a good way to end things. They are both broken people who need to figure some things out before committing to a relationship. I'm worried that the show will just go straight on ahead with these big romantic proclamations in the finale. It has never been a subtle show. This episode would have been a complicated way to end things emotionally. But that feels just as rewarding and deserving as anything that next week's episode could possible do. This was the most enjoyable episode of the season. The finale could do anything. That's equal parts terrifying and exciting.
Some more thoughts:
- "I Brought a Petting Goat!" was written by Jonathan Ames and directed by Tristram Shapeero.
- Rosalie has developed a strong attachment to Martin because he reminds her of her deceased first husband. This is the first time the audience has even heard about Joey. It does offer new dimension to the character. But it also comes a little too late for it to have any immediate value in the story.
- It was also a season-long story to get Rosalie to open up to Dr. Weiss. It was never all that intriguing because Dr. Weiss isn't that great. But at least that story thread had some resolution.
- Martin bringing a date to the party who was also named Rosalie was a little too blunt in saying that he's more into her than he wants to admit.
- Watching Moby, Romany Malco and C.S. Lee dance together was a lot of fun.
- It was such a good thing that the flashing lights from outside only signaled Dr. Weiss being taken away for a minor cardiac event and not the police coming to shut down the party. That would have been the expected way to bring conflict into the overall event. What actually happened was much better.
