The Crazy Ones 1x05: She's So European

Sexy, European Helena comes to the office to talk about an ad campaign for her new dating website for older people. Zach, Simon, and Sydney are all enamoured with her.

Sydney tries to be her friend, while Zach and Simon both sleep with her, leading to an awkward moment when Sydney drops by Helena's hotel room unexpectedly.

Zach is forced into the unenviable position of having to tell his boss that they're now Eskimo Brothers. Simon doesn't take the news very well, and things get so awkward in the office that they're all forced to confront Helena. She doesn't see what the big deal is.

Meanwhile, Fred Melamed is in the office to do a voiceover, and he treats Andrew like crap and calls him a hippie. After Andrew gives him some notes, Fred storms out.

Simon gets him to come back, but he flubs his lines, forcing Andrew to lay down the law. It was all a ploy by Fred to teach him not to take crap from voice actors and to be a man.

Zach, Simon, and Sydney agree that mixing business with pleasure is making things too complicated, and they decide to keep their relationships Helena completely work-related. Fred doesn't work with her, though, so he uses his powerful, manly voice to seduce her.

What I Liked
-Fred's briefcase is made of Corinthian leather... which is not actually a real thing.
-Helena's impression of Zach's o-face. In my experience, it's not a real thing. But I've never had sex with a man, so maybe other guys do make weird faces and women don't.

This is a woman imitating a man's o-face, so it doesn't count.

-Andrew can't do the voiceover thing with Fred again because he has jury duty that day... and diarrhea. Hee-hee.
-When Andrew thinks Fred is going to kill him, he tells Lauren to delete his browser history. That's a way to go. Personally, I want the contents of my history read aloud at my funeral.

What I Hated
-Simon and Zach talking like southern debutantes. It was terrible, and it went on way too long.

Final Thoughts
There were two plots in this episode, but unlike on many other sitcoms, they didn't feel rushed. That's probably because there are only five characters on the show, rather than 7-10. A trio and a pair isn't so bad.

My girlfriend hates the fact that Eskimo Brothers are a thing, but that's partially because she's not a fan of The League. Your Eskimo family is the best way to get things done, though, and there's no denying that.

We're back to gags again this week, which is fine, since they're still pretty good gags. However, after five episodes, I would've expected a little bit more character development. Of course, Simon is basically just Robin Williams if he were an ad executive, so there may not be any need to really develop that character. Lauren, Zach, Andrew, and especially Sydney could use a little work.

The episode itself was relatively funny. The blooper tags over the credits aren't really providing many laughs, but they're funnier than the credits would be on their own, so I guess they're inoffensive at least. I've gotta say that this is one of the more visually interesting sitcoms I've seen. It's very bright, and there's always a lot going on in the office. I suppose that makes it one of the more visually interesting shows period, since so many dramas are drab and gray.

Anyway, I'm still enjoying The Crazy Ones after five episodes, although it's has yet to wow me. It's good enough for me to keep watching, though.