Source: Refinery29.com
With the focus on Jimmy and Edgar recently, we haven’t really checked in on Gretchen’s progress… until now. I’m happy to see that Gretchen is still going to therapy, (Justina was conspicuously absent the last few episodes, and I was starting to wonder. You’re the Worst never lets me down.) yet despite the fact that Gretchen is regularly attending her appointments, she’s seems unable or unwilling to address her actual issues (falling asleep, talking about her therapist’s wardrobe choices, ignoring advice). When Justina tries to engage her in a conversation about her mother, Gretchen deflects. Her mother was strict, she explains, but she’s focussed and driven because of her – and she’ll prove it, by using the same tactics on her friends. And so, the episode follows Gretchen in her attempts to “fix” her friends. “I’m not bossy, I’m maternal.”
First up is Jimmy. When he is unable to focus and meet his writing deadline, Gretchen steals the router so that Jimmy can’t play his time-sucking game “Zoo Entrepreneur”. Without distractions, he tries to be productive, but instead finds new ways to waste his time – dogs, sports, hipster picnics and even Vernon’s podcast “Vernon Down The House”. Yet, it is there that he has an epiphany, discovering that he’s having a hard time writing because without his father he has nobody to write against.
Next is Lindsay. Lindsay and Paul’s dysfunctional open relationship continues, so Gretchen convinces Lindsay to be honest with Paul. That doesn’t exactly go as planned though, as their relationship becomes even more dysfunctional than before!
Finally, Gretchen convinces him that he needs to put more effort into his internet videos about his character, Dr. Weed. When he receives a media request from a reporter who is working on a piece about how marijuana can help Veterans. She pushes him to accept, even though he is reluctant. In the end, it turns out Edgar’s intuition was correct, as the “reporter” is actually a marijuana activist who uses the footage of Edgar to push his agenda. Gretchen, it seems, has gone too far.
After everything goes wrong, Gretchen finds her therapist at a bar (“what did you do, hack my phone or something?!”) where she admits that her mom wasn’t so great. The pressure may have worked initially, but it made her fall into a depression that has lasted on and off since then.
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