2 Broke Girls did not get off to an unracist start this week, with characters affectionately referring to each other by the ethnicity-based nicknames “Hot Chocolate” and “Little China” within the first two lines of dialogue. So that’s still happening. From there, the girls went on a Manhattan adventure where they snuck into Caroline’s government-seized townhouse to recover her bite guard (which might be the same thing as a retainer?). When Max sees Caroline’s old home, she realizes that her new friend didn’t just used to be rich, but used to be so-so-so crazy-rich. This makes Max feel even worse for Caroline’s recent flight to Brooklyn.
Most of this episode actually took place in Manhattan, so we’ll have to leave it to the blogs about being rich on the Upper East Side to fairly analyze what went down. But there were still plenty of scenes in our heroines’ usual spots:
KEEPING IT REAL
Know What Would Be Fun Right Now?: To everyone’s annoyance, Han implements a karaoke night at the diner that results in flocks of hipsters ironically singing Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” over and over. When Max starts comping would-be singers’ desserts to just make it stop, she doesn’t seem out of line.
Bodega Cuisine: Caroline is not the first lady to go against her best instincts and buy cheap sushi at a corner deli when she can’t afford the real thing, only to spit it out when it tastes weird. Nor will she be the last.
UH, WHAT?
Smile: The girls visit “Subway Smiles,” some kind of rundown dental clinic that is inside of a subway (presumably the station). The attendant sits behind bulletproof glass with a bullethole in it, I guess because a violent criminal really really really wanted to be checked for cavities and plaque? I bet newly non-insured Caroline could find something better if she had been reading her Brokelyn more carefully.
Sympathy Pains: The main arc of this episode is Max feeling sorry for Caroline after getting more info about how insanely amazing her life used to be pre-Williamsburg. I don’t think the revelations of Caroline’s former luxuries (which included an electronic rotating shoe rack that she called her “Ferris Heels” and a huge jacuzzi that made her bathroom the “Louvre of pooping”) make her seem like a stronger person just because she now heroically copes with not having them anymore. It is better to have had alarm-wired fur coats and lost, than to never have had alarm-wired fur coats at all … right?
*One item I didn’t include on the list because it’s not clear if it’s an example of being broke, or just a sign of laziness: the lack of toilet paper in the girls’ apartment. Max tells Caroline to “hold it ’til you get to work like everyone else.” Is she conserving cash, or trips to the store? Is errand efficiency its own form of wealth in a modern day society that advocates full schedules? This show brings up so many questions. So, so many questions. Let’s watch again together next week so see if we get any answers.
Follow Ariel: @arielkarlin.