USofAl shifts back into sitcom mode with a rare episode that does not mention Afghan refugees.
United States of Al - Season 2, Episode 14 Review
Showing posts with label United States of Al review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States of Al review. Show all posts
United States of Al, Season 2 Episode 13 Review - Hunter
Meanwhile, Al, determined to impress Ariana at an Afghan refugee fund-raiser spin cycle-a-thon, gets down right petulant when he competes against the hunky spin class instructor.
And with the house to themselves, Art and Lois enjoy privacy at home and then out in the city as vigilante anti-graffitists.
With USofAL's audience numbers steadily climbing, the show must be doing something right. But this is an example of the uneven writing that keeps the show from being heads above any other must-see TV.
It's funny and touching to see Riley interact with his daughter, especially when he realizes how much he's missed in his daughter's life - Parker Young and Farrah Mackenzie have great chemistry.
But the show's biggest challenge is how to develop Al as a multi-dimensional comic character. Is he the stranger in a strange land? Are we laughing at his conservative values? It certainly comes across that way with Al's immature bravado competing with the spin instructor. Ariana is too Westernized for Al and she's already condemned him for being an interpreter, but the show insists that they could be a couple even though Ariana shows no interest in Al. Combined with the show's unique situation of being the only show about an Afghan refugee, and you can almost feel the tug of war in the writers' room as they steer Al from serious issues to a memorable funny character that will keep a growing audience coming back every week.
United States of Al, Season 2 Episode 11 Review
When Hazel (Farrah Mackenzie) decides to do a report on Al (Adhir Kalyan) for school, a classmate insults her and Hazel punches him in the face. She's expelled from school. Riley (Parker Young) and Vanessa (Kelli Goss) disagree about how to punish Hazel. In fact, the two argue about whether Hazel was justified in punching out the other kid. The argument leads to an Al-led "intervention" where the entire family discusses the role of parenting, especially when the parents are separated.
This episode of USofAL fires on all cylinders. We are reminded of Al's history and refugee status. We get a taste of ignorance thanks to the classmate's insults. And we get the warm and fuzzies thanks to a sitcom returning to familiar territory - a disfunctional family comedy. The intervention was a great way to get the entire family cast members together, especially as past episodes had separate A and B storylines where the entire family rarely interacted.
There are times when episodes of USofAL still feel like it's getting its legs, but this particular episode was smart, insightful and, most importantly, funny.
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Harrison Cheung is the author of the award-winning biography of Christian Bale (BenBella Books) and a contributor to Brave New Hollywood and The TV Ratings Guide.
@harrisonic (Twitter)
United States of Al Season 2 Episode 10 Review
Back from the holiday break, USofAL takes an interesting turn. Al (Adhir Kalyan) invites his psychology professor (John Ross Bowie) over for dinner while Riley (Parker Young) finds he can't "perform" with his new girlfriend, Holly (Amanda Payton). This is the first episode of the season that doesn't mention Afghan refugees at all.
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