Broad City

“Rat Pack”

Season 3, Episode 4

This is some of my best sandwich work to date.

This season of Broad City has been on a different path than the previous two. The changes are small but necessary in order to move any appropriate arcs along, ultimately aiding in character development along the way. There’s something of a budding romance between Abbi and her former boss now on par coworker, Trey. Ilana is having her own thing with Lincoln that may lead to a potential break up or them finally ending up together. But the single constant in the show is the relationship that Abbi and Ilana have developed with each other. Every episode thus far has had them apart for a period of time but it’s been proven that, even then, the two are in constant contact.

“Rat Pack” is a bottle episode of sorts that has Abbi trying to make up for kissing Trey and Ilana trying to kill a rat in her apartment. Abbi’s slovenly mistake leads to her joining Tinder trying to find the right guy, any guy, to kiss her. Ilana has her own troubles, too, as the rat rears its ugly head at a party that she and Jamie throw to curb the cost of exterminating the rat in the first place. The convergence of the stories is all too familiar. That’s not a bad thing, either, as they play out in ways that are fitting for the characters. Abbi making out with a guy that ends up with the same sense of humor as Trey is telling as, perhaps by the end of the season, the two possibly end up with each other. That certainly would be an interesting event seeing as how Trey was her superior last season who displayed no real interest. But that could be his character; someone who doesn’t know how to emote properly (he did show a propensity for steroid use so that may be a factor).

Ilana, too, deals with a strange relationship in that Lincoln has been a dynamic character all season. He’s facing his fears of being a trapeze artist as seen in the premiere and admitting to Ilana that he has another sex friend. Ilana being unfazed to the new information is a sign that she’s not ready to grow up while Lincoln is showing a real change in character. Earlier in the episode, Lincoln phrases a sentence wrong and has Ilana freaking out that he’s going to propose something serious. Though the moment lasts for a split second, the look on Ilana’s face is telling. She obviously doesn’t want to get buckled down while Lincoln shows a propensity for being a good if not right boyfriend for her. Their dynamic could be thrown off by the end of the season with a possible change in their sex habits.

Should you watch “Rat Pack?”

This is an interesting episode. Not many moments are laugh out loud funny but Broad City has taken strides to add layers to their characters. Jamie finds a new confidence in his gay life, Abbi is unsure of how to feel for Trey, Lincoln tries new things, and Ilana tries to be a free spirit. The way the stories play off of each other is fun to watch too. And Eugene Mirman is an exterminator.