Go On – Season 1 Episode 11 – Recap and Review – The World Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over via Rickey.org
Recap and review of Go On – Season 1 Episode 11 – The World Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over
Go On is a show that could easily wallow in dreary, dark humor, given the nature of its premise. It would be exceedingly easy for a show like this to be cynical in its approach, akin to how a show like Family Guy or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or even a TV classic like Seinfeld, will occasionally go to great lengths to depict a world that’s comprised of either cynical, apathetic or outright terrible people. And those are shows that don’t really deal directly with subject matter as hefty as how we we grieve. Grief isn’t really something we’re supposed to find comedy in, yet episodes like “The World Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” paint a picture of a show that’s keenly aware of the disconnect between its genre and its premise. The show has built a solid foundation in its ensemble, and writing that grows sharper as the season continues, and it is in this fashion that the show seeks to reconcile that disconnect, presenting a show that is, by turns, heartwarming and genuinely funny, if not insightful, in its approach to the different ways in which people choose to deal with grief.
Credit: NBC
The main narrative thrust of the episode concerns the group’s holiday party, and the different stories of the varying groups as the party approaches. For Mr. K (Brett Gelman), the party will inaugurate the end of days, as the celebration happens to fall on the date of the Mayan end times prophecy. He’s sent into an appropriately over-the-top frenzy, as he preps for the end by writing a song to commemorate the occasion, assisted by an exasperated, guitar-playing Owen (Tyler James Williams). It’s hardly compelling, but it’s funny enough to keep from derailing the episode, and Mr. K’s quirkiness also serves as a jumping off point for the rest of the episode when his apocalyptic rhetoric inspires Ryan (Matthew Perry) to relate a story of a dying basketball player whose personal mantra detailed how a perfect day makes a person think, laugh, and cry. This inspires Ryan to commandeer a bus to bring Anne (Julie White) along for the trip through wine country he planned with Steven (John Cho). This plot delivers some of the episode’s best lines, such as when Steven flirts with his date by asking her to accompany him outside so he can “feel you and the soil at the same time”, to which Anne asks Ryan, “Does he always suck like that?” The interplay between Ryan and Anne helps to elevate the episode, and really puts a spotlight on a friendship that can anchor this show. However, the comedic elements of this storyline are also enhanced by the explorations into grief, beneath the surface.
Credit: NBC
Ryan’s good intentions are resisted, playfully, by Anne, who recognizes that Ryan is simply trying to bring her out of her “sad place” by including her on the trip, but there’s a real heart to the story. When Ryan and Anne discuss marriage, we get a flashback to Ryan’s initial reticence in marrying Janie (Christine Woods), and it’s as poignant as it is funny. Janie has always been well-written in her previous appearances, but her appearance here, bullying Ryan into proposing at a five-star resort, marks the first time where we could really get some sense of just the kind of unique, interesting individual was lost through her tragic death. She’s so quick-witted and straightforward that it almost strains credulity to think that this same woman would ever make the mistake of texting while driving. But then, we all make severe lapses in judgment, out of a belief that such tragedies couldn’t happen to us. That benign sense of immortality runs through the episode as the holiday celebration threatens to end life as our characters know it.
Credit: NBC
Take Lauren (Laura Benanti), for instance, who fears that her boyfriend, Wyatt (Hayes MacArthur), is going to propose at the holiday party. Lauren doesn’t feel they’re anywhere near ready for the commitment, even though she does love Wyatt. Sonia and Yolanda intercede on Lauren’s behalf, to get to the bottom of things. As it turns out, Wyatt is planning to propose, and so Sonia and Yolanda give him a bunch of fake tips on how best to win Lauren over, presumably as a means of sabotage, for Lauren’s sake. However, in a peculiar change from last week, Wyatt is shown to be really earnest and caring, and less of the self-absorbed (if occasionally helpful) guy he was last week. He essentially details how he wants what’s best for her, and how he believes that she deserves the world, adding that he has no intentions of taking Lauren away from the group. To this end, Sonia and Yolanda change their tune and help Wyatt to plan the perfect proposal, including a humorous bit of proposal coaching in which Yolanda reveals that, when she was dating her ex, she would practice her “proposal face” in the mirror every morning and every night. Sonia also gets a spotlight moment, in which she reenacts the perfect proposal on Yolanda, who’s immediately entranced by the entire charade. It’s all very charming, and it pays off in the finale, as Wyatt proposes, Lauren accepts, and a machine Wyatt had rented to produce fake snow finally kicks into gear, and gives the gang some Christmas-themed snowfall.
“The World Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” occasionally runs the risk of becoming jumbled, in the sense that a lot is going on. However, the the story is loose enough that the episode moves around from one set of characters to another without really feeling like any individual storyline is getting short shrift. The jokes also come fast, so that it’s hard to get caught up in how quickly the story is moving. Go On might not encourage us to laugh at grief, but it’s proven to be a series that explores how laughter really can be the best medicine, sometimes. By any measure, this episode exemplified what’s best about the series, which becomes more engaging with each week.
