Season 2, Episode 1: "Dance Class"

The El Dude Brothers spend some quality time together

For the start of the second season (yeah, I forgot to post this earlier), the show changes gears with the addition of Nancy to Jez' life.

Thoughts:
- Nancy begins her long run on the show here, to give Jez a woman to pine for, a la Mark's Sophie. The main problem here is that Nancy is never at any point a nice person, so you don't particularly want Jez to end up with her; consequently, I'm not really fond of any Nancy-centric episodes.

- Jez (about Toni and Tony): “There's only so much happiness in the world, and they're hoarding it.”
Mark: “That's not how it works.” (It completely is.)

- In this episode, Johnson is finally named Mark's new boss at JLB. I had a feeling he wasn't in his first appearance. Oddly, the scene in which this happens is rather short, and has no bearing on the rest of the episode. It's as if the producers want to quickly set it up early on in the episode for the rest of the season, so they can move on to the rest of the show. Clearly they noticed the unlimited potential of Alan Johnson last season and intend on making use of it later.

- In celebration of Johnson's hiring, JLB takes the afternoon off for a party with drinks. The UK Office often took part of the work day off to drink. Is this sort of thing common in the UK?

- Tony shows up in this one, too. I'm surprised to see him in the background of so many episodes.

- Jez passionately tells Toni that he loves her. He does the same thing to Elena in the sixth season, at the party.

- While watching weirdos prance about at Rainbow Rhythms, Mark asks, "is this what my granddad died for?", implying, perhaps, that his grandfather fought and died in WW2.

- In explaining why he didn't entirely embrace Rainbow Rhythms, Mark says he "doesn't necessarily think money... and Tony Blair are a bad thing." This is the first instance in which Mark sets himself up as the defender of the status quo. The most memorable example would be his speech to the guys on E who stay over after Sophie drags them to the gay club. Here, he might be considered a blue Liberal. Or a red Tory. Either or.

- Nancy's Jesus bit isn't particularly funny. In fact, quite a lot of what she says isn't particularly funny. Why, you might go so far as to say that I hate this character, for a few reasons. First, she's self-absorbed, and not very kind to Jez. There's very little room to warm up to her, and she doesn't bring the laughs to compensate for that. Remember the Australian girl, Saz, in the fifth season, who takes Mark for a ride? Nancy is a bit like that, only she's in two seasons.

Second, she seems, to me, to be too much like an actress playing a part. Nobody actually acts like Nancy. And, yes, while Jez and Mark are exaggerated, there's a kernel of reality to them. I can relate to how they act and what they think. It's very difficult to find common ground with Nancy. Finally, the whole Jesus bit never really goes anywhere, anyway.

- In this one, the "sex all over the place" bit is a tad too sophomoric. Jez getting done up in blackface, in particular, seems unrealistic. Even in a show like this, I can buy that they'd really do most of the things they do, but that one is pushing it. A later example of a pretty over-the-top incident I have trouble accepting is Jez eating the charred remains of the dead dog.

- Mark pretending to enjoy Rainbow Rhythms is like his pretending to be on E later on. In both cases, he thinks he's pulled one over on everyone, and acts the way he thinks people doing such things might act.

"Definitely not a tranny!"

- The douchebag who steals Nancy is perfect casting. I genuinely hate not only the character, but the actor. His wardrobe, particularly the rolled-up jeans, is fantastic.

- Good Mark line: "Tell you what, I'm going off to the bog - for a wee!"

- Jez looks down upon hippies. This is amusing, since there's a very thin line between them and him. In fact, when they're not stealing his girlfriend, he's pretty happy to embrace their lifestyle.

- I enjoy how the game of brinksmanship - neither Mark nor Jez wanting to seem sexually closed-minded in front of their dates - leads to Mark and Jez kissing.

- The bit with Mark and Sophie together at the water's edge at the end is kind of touching.

- Mark pushing Sophie's face away from his computer at the end is one of the show's funniest moments.

- In this one, Mark gets one foot forward, two feet back with Sophie. This is the norm with their relationship at this stage of the show.

UK References:
- Louis Theroux: Hosts a series in which he explores the crazier side of the United States, from a foreigner's perspective. Spends time with racists, religious extremists, compulsive gamblers, competitive weightlifters, swingers and other bizarre groups of people. Highly recommended if you want to track it down online. In some ways, Louis Theroux is sort of like a more successful, charming version of Mark; no wonder he pretends to be him in times of stress.
- RAF Duxford: One of the sites Jez hopes to visit, rather than the douchebag's cottage. The Internet tells me that it was an important Battle of Britain aerodrome, and has since been turned into a notable museum.
- Todsford Stone Circle: A tricky reference. It doesn't actually exist, but, according to my quick research, is a reference to Mitchell and Webb's radio show, That Mitchell and Webb Sound. Obviously you should all be downloading that illegally, or watching its TV spinoff.
- Tollesbury: A seaside village to the east of London.