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I don't know what it is about this episode. Well, I kind of do. It just kind of makes me uncomfortable the whole time. I feel so bad for Murray the whole episode, which I know is a common thing to happen in sitcoms, there's miscommunication and someone ends up sad, or dramatic irony in some sense where we know that the good thing that the character wants to happen isn't going to happen. But in most cases, the episode or the story has a happy ending. This one doesn't. Yes, there's a sense of realism to it, that in real life sometimes things don't go your way and you're just sad, but if i wanted that i would go watch the last of us or something. This is Flight of the Conchords, this is the goofy comedy show about two idiot kiwis, it's not supposed to be a depressing show, it's supposed to make you laugh and have songs that get stuck in your head. But this is just depressing, and not in a funny way. Sometimes it shows something bad happening to a character, and you laugh, either because they deserve it, or there's a comedic element to what happened to the character. This has neither. You just feel empty at the end, at least in my case. And this doesn't make this episode special or different, that it’s breaking the sitcom norms by not having a happy ending to an episode, and yes, it is breaking the norms, but the thing is, it's not a very good episode despite all of that, which just makes it a crappy episode. There are two songs in this episode, “cheer up murray'' and “Frodo (don't wear the ring). Now, both of these are good songs, but notice how neither of them are on both of their official albums? That’s because both of these songs are just.. Eh. They're good, they're very good, don't get me wrong, I love both of these, but they're so Carol Brown. I’m just saying, maybe there's a reason neither of them were put on any official album. But combine mediocre songs and a less than fulfilling plot and you've got, in my opinion, the worst flight of the conchords episode. But, I will also talk about the good things. Though his character annoys me, I really like Will Forte as an actor and voice actor, so it’s cool that he’s there, and since he’s in a lot of other things, he also is a good pipeline to connect flight of the conchords to other media. Also, even though i said the Frodo song is mediocre, I still like the concept, and i love to see Bret and Jemaine dressed like they're from lord of the rings.
This episode got me off of watching Flight of the Conchords for a couple weeks, because I just couldn't finish it. It’s not my least favorite, but it's just so confusing and boring and weird? This would be number one if I didn't hate The Actor so much. The thing is, there are some really good bits to this episode, and those good bits stand out, but the rest of the episode is soooooo weird and bad and dumb. Brahbrah? I know it’s supposed to be funny because “oh bret was right the whole time” but brahbrah. Really. Brahbrah. And then also, they're both head over heels for this girl who has no interest in them? Like, I know that's not the first time it's happened in the show, but usually they're better than that. But that doesn't really bug me as much as some of the other things. The thing that really bugs me is, ok Brahbrah chooses bret at the end, whatever, yes, but then it turns out she's been lying to them the entire time? There's no epileptic dog! The whole point of the episode, the whole purpose, the whole goal, no longer matters. Which also implies that this woman is either a bad person or mentally unwell? I dont know it's just like “oh he's been missing for six years but now i'm asking random people in the park if they can help me find him” like from that she is clearly unwell like girl go get that checked out. And the epileptic dogs concert thing is just weird and stupid. They barely even put that much effort into trying to get Sally’s attention. Sally, whom 3 of their most popular songs are written about, and 2 whole episodes involve them trying to win her love, they wouldn't even go that far for sally. It's just dumb. Things I like, well, “We’re both in love with a sexy lady” is a masterpiece. Just beautiful. “Love is a weapon of choice” is also really good and I love the fight during it. The misunderstanding about them being gay is great, especially with what Mel adds to the conversation.
I know exactly why I don't like this episode, but I’m going to try not to rant about it for too long. Todd is one of the most insufferable characters in all of television. Seriously. I think it's because I know and have met people like him, and they really are just the worst. I don’t need to talk about why I hate him for too long, he's just so annoying. Next, the whole Doggy Bounce thing is stupid. I know the whole show is stupid, but it's like, skip that whole part of the episode stupid. Other than that, for the last episode of a whole season, this episode is just not memorable at all. It should be, the plot is weird and conflicting, it’s an important plot point, “oh no, there's a new member of our band that might drive our band and our friendship apart!!” which sounds like you’d want to find out what happens next, but it's just boring and not memorable. There are things I like, like Bret’s little dance bit. Direct footloose reference, love it, and this time, it's actually so stupid that it's funny. I like Demitri, I just think he's kind of silly unlike todd. I like the scene where Jemaine and Todd fight too.
Truthfully, I only dislike this one because it's a continuation to The Third Conchord. I don't hate it that much, but since the god awful Doggy Bounce along with Todd are even mentioned, it kind of ruins the whole episode. Really, it's not bad, it's just not very memorable, mediocre, but then plus Doggy Bounce and Todd, it makes it a bad episode. Other than all of that, it’s funny, I laughed, it's weird, but weird in a flight of the conchords way, weird in the way that I expect and like. But generally, not the best start to a season.
So I’m not a big fan of Taika Waititi as a person. But at the same time, he directed my favorite episode. However, this episode is bad, and the worst part is, it’s Taika Waititi bad. I can’t even make an excuse, the reason it's bad is Taika. It’s all him. Two of my favorite songs are in this episode, and the scene for both of them is great but the episode.. Mm… I think it also just makes me uncomfortable. A little bit fetishiz-y to lesbians too and I’m pretty sure that’s directly Taika. Even though I do like how Jemaine chokes on his water when the ladies kiss, clearly the problem for the episode does not lie in Bret or Jemaine. The threesome thing is weird, the lesbians thing is weird, Mel is even weirder than normal, I just don’t like it.
If not for Foux Du Fafa, this episode would be much lower in the rankings. But the thing is, I want to like this episode I really do. A Kiss is Not a Contract is probably one of the most genius concepts of this generation, who else would do a folk parody song about consent other than Bret and Jemaine? But alas, there lies the problem. The very real problem of Bret’s girlfriend forcing him into sex is played off as a joke and Oh My God i feel so bad for Bret the whole time. The poor boy doesn’t know how to say no! The stigma of consent for men and how women cant force men into sex because the man is manly and should be able to say no is so apparent here and it just makes me so sad. But, I think, sadly, that's the point of the episode. I also feel bad for Jemaine in this, but not as bad as I feel for Bret.