Mikes Film Talk

Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life, episode 8 is another one that is  “out of order” apparently, either that or continuity has just been completely ignored.  The episode is funny. However…

Many things are ignored from prior episodes. Kelly bonding with Leslie, Josh’s discomfort with his wife wanting to hang out with his brother’s friends does not fit  and, most importantly, the evolution of the Kelly/Cooper attraction issue does not track.

Still, despite these annoying moments, the storyline of Cooper’s ex girlfriend turning his texted penis picture into art amuses. If nothing else having a great T2 reference where Kelly’s new ex boyfriend quotes the T-1000 does make up for quite a lot:

“Hey. Nice bike.”

That line, which immediately follows the “I own your penis” screamed through an Uber window, leads to a car/bicycle chase. (It is very laugh out loud funny,  that screamed line.)

The idea of crazy ex’s turning someone else into a cray-cray ex was well executed with Cooper getting upset at his former girlfriend dating Neal.  Kelly meets a super competitive guy at the “spin class” and they start dating.

The two new “soulmates” are both competitive to the nth degree and in the beginning seems to be the perfect match.

At the art auction, Kelly’s new guy buys the giant picture of Cooper’s “junk” (which is apparently huge) and when he insists on putting it over his fireplace, Kelly breaks up with him.

There are other moments of hilarity. The party at Leslie and Josh’s place was brilliant. Barry acting all grown up,  Cooper using Kelly to make Lena jealous and Leslie whiskey slapping Barry onto the glass table (and breaking it) was truly funny.

On a sidenote, who knew there was such a thing as whiskey slapping? Been around since at least 2010 (although probably a bit longer that is just the earliest video of the game on YouTube that this reviewer could find) and the game does not look all that much fun despite the addition of copious amounts of alcohol.

Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life is having issues with viewing figures and FOX have altered the show’s schedule as a result.  It is difficult to see just what the problem is. Sure it is annoying that the timeline is all over the place but the episodes themselves are still funny.

Plus, the cast chemistry works a treat regardless of the continuity issues. Liza Lapira and Meaghan Rath are both queens at delivering  a great “comic punch” (or in this case, Lapira’s comic slap) and all the guys have great ensemble timing. 

Kudos to the guest stars on the episode, Parker Young and Lyndon Smith who played Kelly and Cooper’s exes, respectively.  Each bought a high level of comedy to the show.  With Parker’s character being so competitive that he attacks a spin class winner with an extendable baton and Smith’s constantly making eye contact with Cooper every time she and Neal kiss were delightfully awkward and…cray cray.

Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life is funny but the show needs to be a little more sequential in terms of episodes, or at least pay attention to the character arcs a bit more.  Comedy it may be, but there still needs to be logic and a timeline.

The breaking of the fourth wall still works though and it is fun guessing what new dilemma the group will be instructing its viewers on next.

The series airs Sundays on FOX.