Party Down ended is second--and possibly final--season with "Constance Carmell Wedding," another hilarious episode to add to its ever-growing list of excellent episodes. Jane Lynch returns for Constance's wedding and several characters get somewhat of a conclusion, not quite a winning experience for everyone, but certainly more than we're used to.
Henry has, since the beginning, been the central focus of the show and the example of the failed actor. He is smarter than those like Kyle, has actually found success before, and yet, here he is, working as a caterer. By now, he has all but given up on his dreams, choosing instead to languish in this job along with a couple other wacky people. Like Henry, Casey is a caterer, but she is still pursuing her dreams. And that's where the Apatow movie comes in. It's her big break, or so she would like to think. But her scene is cut out and she is back to square one.
She's left crying, unable to cope with her broken chance for success. When Henry tries to comfort her and tell her it's all right and she'll succeed one day, she can't take her seriously. Henry has given up, called it quits, declared that there is no chance he will ever break through. So why would he think Casey would succeed if he can't? At the end of the episode, we see Henry take a day off work and audition for a part. And because Adam Scott is leaving in the hypothetical third season, possibly with only 3 episodes, Henry is right on the path to stardom.
Ron came into this season, crawling back after Soup'r'Crackers collapsed, in a lower place than the rest of them. He's battled through, and in the season finale, finds love with Danielle, the boss's daughter.
By now, we know Roman is a bad writer who will never write anything half good. But what about if he was high as a kite and didn't care about his weird writing pathologies? He writes something spectacular and luckily it's written on toilet paper for him to read later. Could he have written something actually good? Something tells me he didn't. For one, Kyle is a terrible judge, because, well, he's an idiot. Also, Roman seemed to be off in his own world, creating an insane story which probably didn't make sense.
My favorite part of the episode was when Kyle's band, Karma Rocket came out and played "My Struggle." It's exactly what it is, basically a song version of Mein Kampf. Of course the many Jews in the room are horrified, but Kyle keeps on singing and continues to be oblivious. Oh, Kyle...
Starz still hasn't officially renewed or canceled the show, so there's a good chance that was a series finale. According to executive producer John Enborn, the chances for renewal are at 3 out of 10. And that's not really a surprise considering that the ratings are slightly above 100k viewers. 100,000. It's not a Starz problem, either. The insipid Spartacus: Blood and Sand reached above 1 million viewers, so people know Starz is out there. For whatever reason, people just aren't watching Party Down. Maybe it's a scheduling issue, but it's too late to find out.
If the show is not renewed, and it's likely it will not, I'm we got to see 20 episodes. There were plenty of laughs, great acting and writing, and the sadistically funny existence of the Party Down folks.
Score: 9.2/10
Saturday, June 26, 2010
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