Season 1, Episode 2: Bull Riding & Belly Laughs
Dec 7, 2013 11:36:46 GMT -5
Smacks and MissBeaHaven like this
Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2013 11:36:46 GMT -5
After a promising debut, Burning Love stars to show its true potential with a one on one date and a hilarious challenge, followed by a pretty sad elimination ceremony. Besides making the most out of the format, the show starts developing a central theme: failure. While Mark continues to fail at understanding the world around him, the ladies mostly fail at trying to establish a connection with him.
As Mark's unlicensed therapist Damien Assange, Adam Scott helps the fireman vocalize his biggest fear ("I will be loved!") while also convincing him to clean his entire office, from dusting the blinds and washing his dishes to fluffing his pillows ("One last little fear conquering karate chop!"). After Mark puts enough effort into vacuuming his therapist's floor, he's ready for his date with Hailey, the sexually liberated Natasha Leggero.
Hailey's bottomlessness continues to be a big part of the plot, as she dances on tables thrusting her newly fashioned "M" pubic hair shape in Mark's face, and rides an electric bull for 95 minutes. "She's got some good suction going", remarks the second guest star of the episode, Ryan Hansen of Veronica Mars and Party Down fame, creating a semi-reunion for the casts of both those shows. Sticking to the joke and building upon it is one of Burning Love’s biggest assets, complete with Mark’s testimonial about how well his date is going, while Hailey is having sex in the background with the first guy that came up to her while she went to the bathroom (more Hansen).
This episode’s challenge brings the ladies to a stand up comedy club, where their approaches vary differently. While Tamara proves that you can't perform stand up with a monkey heart, Titi treats it like a roast and goes after the competition, and Agnes brings in some century old references. Hailey keeps coasting on her vagina while Kristen Bell’s Mandy struggles with the fact that stand up is a sin, but ends up killing it on stage with a little help from the man above. The worst thing about this challenge is that the episode length doesn’t allow us to see every contestant’s stand up routine. One can easily assume that Lexie’s jokes would have also involved setting something on fire. As the reward for Tamara’s unlikely win, Paul Scheer completes the trio of great cameos as Kip, the Professional Joke Teller, doing material so corny that it actually involves corn.
The show continues the build up of awkwardness Bill, the host of the show, and the lucky bachelor, giving us more of Michael Ian Black's crazy facial expressions. Other slow burners are Mark's lack of interest in Annie and his complete obliviousness to Carly's repulsion towards him.
Stray Observations
- Hailey likes Mark because he "reminds me of a younger version of this teacher I used to fuck"
- Mark’s gentle touch and improper grasp on the English language strike again in his hot tub date with Tamara: "Your insides are full of monkey"
- Mandy’s exit interview is even better than the one in the pilot: "I know that God loves me, and I just pray that he will punish them, all of them"
- "My pussy is so tight... like a toddler's"
- Kip’s joke telling skills are all about adapting the material to the situation. Firemen be reactin' to fires like this, while non-firemen be reactin' differently!
- E! News in hindsight. Funniest two: Miley Cyrus tweeting that she hasn't called off her wedding to Liam Hemsworth, amid tabloid reports that couple's relationship was on the rocks and "Skyfall" director Sam Mendes confirming to U.K.'s Empire Magazine that he will not be returning to direct the next James Bond movie.
Revisionist Take (doesn't contain actual spoilers, but if you'd like to avoid further discussion on the rest of the season and series, don't click)
First Blaze sighting! All three guests stars will return in the following seasons with slightly different careers. Ryan Hansen is the only one who’ll get a brand new part, but damn he’s even hotter with stubble.
Bonus pic
