Man With a Plan Season 3 Episodes 4 & 5 Review

Man With a Plan review are back with a special two-episode review focusing on the last two episodes. I wasn't a huge fan of the third episode of the season, but maybe these will be better. I sure hope so...

Episode 4:
Andi is trying to convince Adam to give her her own desk at work, but Lowell gets upset when he comes convinced that he'll have to give up his desk. He then flips out about a missing pencil sharpener, and when Adam and Andi confront him about being upset over his split from his wife, he storms out.

Later, Adam tells Andi that he wants to check on Lowell, who is continuing to act erratic. Adam and Don stop by and play a game with Lowell, which seems to cheer Lowell up. Adam wins the game and Don wants a rematch the next day, but Adam doesn't think he'll be able to come, due to his responsibilities at home. He figures out that he'd be able to go over if he can convince Andi that Lowell needs more help the next day, which he's able to do.

At work, Lowell continues to act erratic, this time playing it up so Adam can go over to his apartment. That night, the guys are surprised by an appearance from Joe. He starts going over all the time, just like Adam and Don, which leads to Beverly and Marcy suspecting that something's up. They tell Andi their suspicions, and the three of them go over to Lowell's. They catch the guys red-handed, and they are in trouble. Deep trouble. When they get home, Andi confronts Adam, who tells her he just needed a break from all of his responsibilities at home. Even though she acts like she doesn't understand, she later admits that she does after Adam tells her about a time he once witnessed her relaxing at Target. The two then go to Target together to relax. At work, Adam finally gives Andi her own desk.

Wrap-Up:

I really enjoyed this episode, and was happy to see the tension Adam and Andi work things out in an amusing way instead of just bickering like they usually do. I don't mind seeing a conflict between them, as long as the writers have a more creative way of resolving that conflict than they usually do. Seeing all of the guys hanging out and bonding over something so simple was pretty fun, and it was great to see Joe's nurse Funchy make another appearance. He's a fun recurring character, especially in smaller doses as he can make an impression without having to say much or take much attention away fro the main characters. All in all, this was a really funny episode and a big improvement on the previous one.

Score: 8.5/10
Grade: B+

Episode 5:
Adam and Andi are searching for baby pictures in Kate's closet in the middle of the night, but they discover that she snuck out and confront her about it. Kate tells her that she snuck out to see a band, and Adam tells her to go to her room, even though Andi wanted to take a softer approach. This leads to an argument (shocker!) between Adam and Andi, with Adam blaming everything on "modern parenting." Andi actually acknowledges that Adam has a point, and she lets him parent how he wants to. Adam takes Kate's door away to punish her. When he sees her in the closet on the phone, he takes her phone away. She tells him he needs it for school, and he lets her use the phone, but she has to use a landline (which he stole from Joe and Bev). Kate drives everyone crazy the next day at breakfast, and Adam tells Andi that this only ends when Kate apologizes. Adam tells Joe about his new "old school" approach to parenting, but Joe tells him that what he's doing isn't old school at all. Adam is devastated to realize that he is now one of those modern parents that he hates so much.

Adam and Andi decide to take a hands-off approach to parenting Kate. They tell Kate that she can run her own life, and she immediately tells them she's going to a concert on Thursday. This upsets Andi, and she just can't help it. She googles the band Kate went to see, and they discover that the concert is at a college. Adam immediately calls her, but since she doesn't have her phone, they can't get ahold off her. They want to go there, but don't want to admit defeat, so they sent Don and Lowell there instead. Since Don and Lowell are incompetent buffoons, they decide to go check on her themselves. Before they can leave, Kate gets home. They're proud that she learned her lesson, but she really didn't learn anything, and just came home because none of her friends could go. Adam and Andi go along with everything and pretend that their plan worked perfectly.

Wrap-Up:

Kate's been very underused this season, and she finally got her time to shine with this week's episode. Even though she didn't get as much screen time as Adam or Andi, it was nice to see her not get totally ignored for once. It was also nice to see Adam and Andi working together, even though they predictably made some stupid parenting choices in the episode. Joe telling Adam that he wasn't parenting in an "old school" style at all was probably the second-funniest part of the entire episode, second only to Lowell and Don going to the concert and acting like, well, themselves. This was another really strong episode this season, and I found it to be a small improvement on the fourth episode.

Score: 8.5/10
Grade: B+

What did you think of this pair of episodes? Let me know in the comments below!

Share this

Related Posts

Previous
Next Post »