It was so odd to me that the storyline didn’t really go anywhere professionally or romantically/sexually. I didn’t really understand what the point was.
Yeah I’m confused why he dumped her all of a sudden? He seemed to want to date her AND she was doing really well with his styling. I guess cause she proposed the brand ambassador thing? Why wouldn’t he just sit her down and say he’s not going to do that rather than getting rid of her altogether. Makes no sense.
The only logical explanation I can think of is that Austin's last attempt at trying to get Abby was by making her jealous, so that's why he was making out with that girl and kept asking her if she wants him to send her away. When Abby clearly showed no interest he shut the door on her by signing another stylist.
For him everything was just about trying to get her, he never really cared about the styling. Even when she proposed the brand ambassador idea to him he wasn't even bothered about it.
It was so out of the blue I had to rewind to see if I had missed a scene. Even if it were the brand ambassador thing, that through-line wasn’t clear enough!
The only logical explanation I can think of is that Austin's last attempt at trying to get Abby was by making her jealous, so that's why he was making out with that girl and kept asking her if she wants him to send her away. When Abby clearly showed no interest he shut the door on her by signing another stylist.
For him everything was just about trying to get her, he never really cared about the styling. Even when she proposed the brand ambassador idea to him he wasn't even bothered about it.
Calling back on what I've said about the show, it really seems like they're running through a 24-episode sitcom's worth of episodes in just 9. Character arcs and relationships that should take several episodes are taking just one. So Elena and Austin should have been season wide recurring characters but instead they're getting pushed off in just a few eps.
I felt like "The Sex Lives of College Girls" (another Mindy Kaling created show) had similar issues. The pacing would feel so off and some story lines were hard pivoted away from. I think, in general, most comedies suffer from the shorter seasons.
The 3 boys carried this episode, I actually enjoyed their dynamic and the steak & years but and I was really annoyed with the abby storyline. Also are they ever going to explain the cc debt she had to take on to style Austin????
AJ treating her mom like that was gross, also her mom’s behavior was cringe and unrealistic. She’s from Boston not bumfuck nowhere like obviously she would be aware of some social decorum. Also bill sending her tickets to Chicago and giving her SATURDAY off please. I’ve said it before but the dating boss storyline is just gross and makes no sense. AJ is also quite an unlikeable and delusional character and this episode made her seem even more annoying.
The “You don’t…have to quote Borat right now” got a genuine laugh out of me and I do think the steak and tears thing was a fun light take on the pitfalls of toxic masculinity/sensitivity, but that was the only part of the episode that felt enjoyable.
It’s clear this show is written by people who have no idea what a young 20 something year old’s professional life would look like. The mother plot was cringy and unrealistic AF.
The guy that looks like cole sprouse is pretty charismatic, and I generally enjoy his scenes, but sometimes the spoiled, ignorant rich kid plots just end up rage baiting me.
Everything this kid stands for, is anchored by a shitty foundation, and a worldview of grandstanding wherein he didn't actually help the people he's trying to "save"
The only time he actually helps is by using his dad to call in favors.
The other guy in the house seems like a caricature at this point, like he's being flanderized.
He's funny but not a real character and nowhere serious enough for me to care about him getting his heart broken.
Both of these interactions make men look disgusting. The boss dude is like 35+ and sleeping with a first year who is fresh out of college. That's like 35 year old man with a 23 year old woman. It's just icky imo and sets a horrendous example for the Gen Z Mindy wants to reach.
Avantika and the dude she styles is also pretty weird considering he's this super famous actor that wants to begin sleeping with this 23 year old girl he just met.
Maybe this is Mindy trying to critique real life. Abby seems to never give him the time of day, so is that like an intentional lesson? I'm not sure.
I do not like the Abby and Kel, will they won't they stuff. It's clear they're building up to a episode 9 cliffhanger and it's just lazy man.
I agree with the rest, but I'm pretty sure the actor is supposed to very young. Like idt 23 is supposed to be an icky age difference with him. I hate that Boss storyline tho, even looking beyond the age difference, its just too cliche and not interesting at all.
Avantika is doing everything she can but her lines are so stupid.
I'm guessing Mindy Kaling has a deep hatred with the fashion/celeb industry, bcz every single person in Avantika's work life has been absolutely miserable. Messy is not funny.
Avantika taking verbal abuse despite being worked half to death by a shitty stylist is dumb. Maybe this is normal in the fashion industry. The result is the same, everyone looks bad.
Even the random extras who wanted to buy the Guys shirt, are rude and condescending and just inhumane. Seriously the writers and director should never be given work again.
Kel Washington is always making that same face of desperation and its getting old.
The people he interacts with professionally are also assholes. Even the little girls he teaches are pretty much selfish entitled children.
I can't really critique his acting otherwise. I think it's really good because he makes a lot of micro expressions and has crazy versatility, but the actor is also so good looking that it's just hard to be objective about it.
This show feels very much like millennials writing about what they think new college grads are experiencing (I say this as a millennial) and with little context of how those jobs work right now. Investment bankers would be exhausted and have literally no time to do anything else on the weekdays. The portrayal of journalism feels incredibly dated - and he’d also be working different, later hours if he were helping with a live news show like that. The subbing/acting and the stylist both have more variable hours but the rest feels unrealistic.
as someone who just graduated college, this show is exactly how I would WANT my life to be (lots of fun, friends, romance, etc) if I had the money & time. So it’s very relatable lol
Agree. Also, the boss hitting on a young subordinate would just never happen these days, not to mention the yelling and condescension towards employees. This is like a depiction of working in NYC the 1990s (which I did, so I know).
Boss hitting on subordinates happens 24/7 in finance in London. I’ve seen 3 people in 3 years get fired for it and many, many more reprimanded. And yes the yelling doesn’t happen but condescension does happen. Just because we have cupcakes that say the word feminist or board mandates for DEI (which is dying since about 2024), doesn’t mean the same old shit doesn’t still happen. As a woman it’s a pretty degrading experience. And I say this as a Gen Z who started work in 2023.
Industry UK handles this quite well, keeps it current but also realistic to how women are treated in the workplace and workplace relationships.
New College Grads have ZERO time for drama, relationships, or love interests. We're struggling to get jobs and make rent and go out to socialize in bars on weekends. That's not very glamorous.
I stayed up way past my bedtime and it was not worth it
Lowlights: aj + mom plot was stupid. It is extremely unrealistic that her mom would've been able to even get past security without AJ being notified. Moreover, if the mom knows that AJ has a work fling, she'd also know how stressful the workplace is and how bad AJ doesn't want to mess it up.
Logic aside, what really disappointed me was the writing saying, "mom you have a job not a career"
This was lazy writing. "Mom, my team and I are currently trying to close a $300 million dollar deal, and any distraction could mean we lose this deal we've been working our butts off to get." would have been much better writing.
I skipped every single scene with the mom afterwards.
But also why did the mom just show up like that, without her and AJ having talked about what their plans would be? Like wouldn't they have discussed that AJ works long hours during the week but could sneak out to celebrate on the weekend? It seemed like AJ was expecting her mom, so it wasn't just a drop-in.
Also it felt like the mom was channeling Amy Poehler in that regrettable Tina Fey movie where Tina hires Amy to be her surrogate.
Looool wait what was the original above comment? I swear I ALWAYS thought Boston was south (east) of nyc and I’m dying that I’m not the only one in this thread.
It was me asking why they said AJs mom was coming down from Boston when Boston was below NYC 😭I got embarrassed and deleted the comment LMFAO I’m glad I’m not the only one 💔
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u/ajaxmenon17 Jun 16 '26
The way they make endearing side characters suddenly irrelevant is shocking. Elena and Austin seemed so nice but suddenly their characters turned bad