There's nothing I appreciate more in the world of humor than just driving a joke into the ground. Some people hate that brand of comedy, I know, but I like it when a joke is picked apart, or examined from every possible angle, or just repeated over and over until it's not funny and then it's really funny. So I loved every time Lola produced Brian's dad (Richard Brooks) to someone looking for their lost relative. By the last time (when it's Sy looking for his daughter), I knew Brooks would be showing up in a second and I started laughing preemptively. That's when I know they got me.
This episode was a spoof of the last-minute heart transplant plot that every single medical show in the universe has ever done, but that was really the least interesting part. I liked the Chief saying "not on my watch" over and over and the guest appearance of Jesse Plemons (yay, Emmy nominee Friday Night Lights!) who rambled on about oceans and Howard Stern's penis before he's executed. But it ended kind of abruptly. That's kind of a tough criticism for a 12-minute show, but didn't anyone else think the storyline was going to tie into the other ones somehow?
I liked the Father's Day thing better. Mostly for how seriously the gang took it ("You don't believe in fathers?" "Where do you think babies come from?") and how their discussion evolved into Owen teaching them about metaphors and similes and a class bell ringing. But that Richard Brooks gag was just the best. It almost killed the final reveal — that Paul Ben-Victor (yay, The Wire!) was Cat's dad. But the sight of Lake Bell vomiting up condom after condom full of heroin solved that problem.
Oh, and I like that they keep giving Nurse Dori something weird to do most weeks (the urine thing was nice and nonsensical and brief, a good background plot). But we need more Nurse Kulap, guys! I protest this inequity! It's like on Grey's Anatomy when the nurses were never particularly important characters. Surely there's more spoof potential there!
The weirdest thing about this episode was the "previously on," a barrage of random clips from past episodes that mostly focused on a character (Glenn) that we didn't even see this week. This show just can't help sending itself up at every turn. That brief drop-in by another loudspeaker guy was another great example. It's always funny to see the show resist any kind of normal joke formula it's set up for itself.
Stray observations:
"It's gonna be an 18th birthday to remember." "Yeah, whether she lives or dies! Especially if she dies."
"Attention hospital staff. Damn it feels good to be a gangsta."
"Let's spend a lot of time doing that!"
"I really hope the heart gets here on time-" "-not on my watch!"
Owen can't donate urine. "I just got my navel pierced so I'm kind of unqualified. Plus I have AIDS."
"We've explored more of our moon than our own oceans. Oceans truly are our last frontier."
"We could try to get Owen to donate!" "Doesn't he have AIDS?" "We could try to do it anyway!"
"Great execution guys. I'm being sarcastic."