One of the throughlines on Up All Night is that the Brinkleys are a couple that is trying to hold on to its cool. Not desperately, not with needle-sharp claw or anything, but the idea of not being out on a Saturday night since YouTubing fireworks on the Fourth of July is enough to rattle them. Three years ago, they were out at a club. This Saturday, Chris is banging a frozen pizza against the counter and defrosting mystery Tupperware soup, only to find out that it’s extremely old breast milk.
“Another Saturday Night” was a steady episode, but it was nothing spectacular. The best moments are in the nooks and crannies of the episode, not in the main narrative arc. When Scott and Chris are singing along to The Cranberries, emphasizing that drawling “foooolferyouuuuuuu,” and when Chris turns to his darling daughter after glimpsing a 16-year-old potential sitter and says, “Amy, you’re going to make one cute little nun"—those are the moments that ring true. Plus, the return of Jerry, who aptly nails a half-dozen d-bag hipster dilettantes in one fell swoop, was pretty great. I particularly appreciated that he had to note his buddy playing live sitar in a hot yoga session. As if contortions in a 90-degree room weren’t torturous enough. Also, his line—“that’s Hindi for car”—had me chortling.
Ava and Jerry’s isn’t the only relationship that’s in full bloom and causing problems for the Brinkleys. Chris set Scott up with their trusted babysitter Vanessa. That’s great for Scott—he gets to do some making out and forget about his ex-wife. But it’s not great for Chris and Reagan, who now are doomed to spend all their Saturday nights in while Vanessa is out on dates. In her desperation to find a suitable sitter, Reagan breaks the cardinal rule of motherhood: Thou shalt not steal another person’s childcare. She lures away Gene and Terry’s sitter with a combination of snacks and tripled pay, but her plan gets foiled when Terry comes over to stare into the back window. Plus, the Brinkleys have moral fiber “like Tebow and Gandhi.” They couldn’t have gotten away with that for long.
Finally, Chris and Reagan get to go out, but not before Vanessa dumps Scott. In their final act of defiance at a Silversun Pickups concert, Chris crowd-surfs, and Reagan jumps on stage. They get kicked out, and Chris loses his phone, wallet, and keys. He looks downcast for a moment, and then Reagan high fives him. “That is so punk rock,” she says. Score one for the Brinkleys.
Stray observations:
- As usual, Will Arnett’s delivery was pitch perfect on several lines. I liked how he spoke into his tiki cup.
- Chris and Reagan tout the universal couple myth: “It’s not gross when we do it.”
- “How’s anus” is absolutely something Auto Correct would do.