This week’s 2 Broke Girls was not only the best episode so far, but it also gave us the most legit portrayal of Brooklyn (and thankfully only two minor references to horse poop). When Max and Caroline go to Goodwill to thrift for cheap clothes, they realize that they have very different ideas about what it means to be a good friend to another female. While Caroline wants to trade sassy pick-me-ups (“You’re fierce!” “You got your glam on!”) and get two-for-one manicures, Max wants to not talk about feelings and be considered “a guy.”
The sitch gets resolved when it’s revealed that Max has been secretly walking Caroline’s horse for her. The two leads (Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs, who everyone seems to agree are the best part of this show) bring their chemistry to this loaded topic. By the end of the episode, Max and Caroline appreciate that they’re both trying to help each other out in their own way. And that’s a pleasant (and sorta rare) thing to watch on TV!
But who cares … what did they say about BROOKLYN?
KEEPING IT REAL
Be Chill: Max and Caroline don’t have air conditioning in their Williamsburg apartment, so during the summer heat, they spend as much time as possible in cool (literally) businesses, including the diner where they work and a bar near where they live. Been there, done that, bought a lot of iced teas that I didn’t want so I didn’t have to go back to my sweltering home quite yet.
The Rules: The girls have excellent thrift store etiquette at “The ‘Will.” Max teaches Caroline to hide desired items in secret places in the store for when you don’t currently have $3 to spare. And the mantra, “If your back is to the rack, you’re under attack” (regarding one’s loss of rights to a given item when you’re not looking at it) seems to be the way the game is played.
They Know Me Here: The bartender at Max’s local spot is a sarcastic street artist who goes by the name JPEG. Sure.
Friend Me: In this episode, there’s a lot of awkward talking about Facebook in real life. This is probably more of a national problem than a Brooklyn one, but it was fairly represented here nonetheless. I don’t think I’ve really seen any TV shows acknowledge that their characters have Facebook to this extent before, when obviously they do!
Those Glutes: When a customer asks for something gluten-free at the diner, Max yells that she’s not allergic to gluten, but is just masking an eating disorder. Both the request and the offensive response sound like something Brooklynites could get riled up about.
UH, WHAT?
Sleep Tight: The only thing (well, besides a lot of things that we’ve discussed in previous recaps) this episode missed about real BK life is that nobody was freaking out about bed bugs. I could not stop thinking about it! I can’t go into a thrift store anymore without imagining things crawling on me, and I’m sure that Caroline — who has been grossed out by “poor people chips” (I think they were ranch flavor) and having to take the subway — would not be able to deal if she knew about this critter epidemic. Maybe she’s just oblivious and Max is too nice to enlighten her. Let her live in blissful ignorance — she’s a TV character, after all.
After three episodes, this show is at a turning point: Will next week’s episode push through to a deeper exploration of female bonding and thrifty modern living? Or will the horse poop plot lines once again take prominence? It’s truly a cliffhanger!
Follow Ariel: @arielkarlin.
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I love that Kat Dennings has her own show.
I don’t know how I got through that episode. Most racist one yet. This is the second time they’ve used someone’s Puerto Rican heritage as an insult. Let’s not even get started on the tired black and Asian stereotypes from the 70s. And “shoe” you down for the heels? I think I know what they’re alluding to unfortunately…