Season 1, Episode 5: "Dream Job"

Mark is not in a good place

Mark takes a turn for the worse when he's passed over for a promotion at work. Meanwhile, Hans has a go at Toni.

Thoughts:

- Mark's line, "Why didn't I iron my fucking tie?!" reminds us all that casual swearing on UK TV is hilarious.

- This might be an obvious point, but Jez' clothing is often very fun.

- Barbara at JLB shows up again, I think, for the last time.

- Mark has a Silver Surfer figurine on his computer at work. Might he be a Marvel man?

- Super Hans introducing himself to Toni: "Hans. Super Hans." Aside from that being a hilarious line, it raises the potential that that Hans is actually his first name. In the sixth season, we discover that Hans has two children in Germany. This could all make sense.

- Jez and Super Hans wrote a song called "Bum Dog."

- Jez on Mark: "The human time-bomb."

- Mark going nuts and pissing on Barbara's stuff is incredibly over-the-top. I'm not sure if this sort of thing would fly in a later season.

- Mark mentions his "so-called childhood." This is a common refrain from him over the years, yet details are scant.

- Super Hans threatens to walk when he finds out Jez is going to be fired from his receptionist job. Naturally, he doesn't. He makes the exact same empty threat when Jez gets kicked out of the band in the fifth season's "crystal skull" episode.

- This isn't the last time that Super Hans steals Jez' woman.

- Toni's total lack of commitment to or real respect for Jez matches that of Nancy in the second season and beyond. The difference, of course, is that Toni is actually a funny character.

- The boys again watch Bob Ross on TV. This time, they're painting along with him.

- The line, "it's political correctness gone mad!" is something of a catch-phrase on this show. I don't know if it originates here, but Mark occasionally says it, usually when he's not allowed to do something he wants to.

- The "this was definitely a great idea" bit also shows up. Mark and Jeremy are often heard convincing themselves of this in later episodes.

- As Mark spirals into depression, he takes up smoking. Jez does the exact same thing in the next episode, as he faces the possibility of an early death.

- Sophie lives in quite a large home. I wonder what the situation is there. Perhaps she has roommates.

- As Mark and Jez are being chased away from Sophie's backyard, we have a shot from a dog's POV. A dog, incidentally, that Mark kicks to death.

- "Cock muncher" shows up here. I know this isn't Peep Show-specific, but this is the first place I was exposed to this extremely fine insult, and it gets thrown around a few more times over the years.

World War 2 references:
- Mark mentions Stalingrad.
- In therapy, Mark instinctively likens his father to the Fuhrer.

This episode is quite good, perhaps because Mark and Jez have two similar plotlines (troubles with women) that eventually become intertwined. I find the show works best when Jez and Mark are working together, rather than at-odds.