Did anyone else think that last season was the final season of Broad City?
Maybe it was just me, but I was super excited to find out that Season 5, which premiered Thursday night on Comedy Central, is in fact the last season. This means we have nine more glorious episodes filled with crazy antics, crude language, and mad love.
Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer have a flair for expressing feminism in all its grit and glory and have no problem portraying what it means to be a woman in this modern world. Do they sometimes make mistakes? Yes. Are they remorseful about it? Occasionally, but most of the time they are themselves and so is their show. If you’re not a fan of crass, raunchy, in your face comedy, then I’m sure you’ve tuned out long ago, but if you’ve stayed, then you, lucky you, experienced the magical season five premiere which finds Abbi turning THIRTY years old and experiencing all the feels that come with the transition from one age group to the next. Fair warning, there are spoilers ahead.
Longtime fans of the show know that most every episode starts with a situation or idea that gets worse thanks to some form of action or decision the girls make. Every now and then there is a heartfelt moment and some serious talk, but plots typically tend to center around being young, single(ish), broke, and living in New York City.
This episode definitely delivers on their format but in a new and very timely way. The majority of the episode is shot from the vantage point of a social media story. Think Snapchat or Instagram. Most shots are short and choppy like watching the culmination of someone’s day on one of these platforms. Shots even contain words, pictures and acronyms associated with this type of social documentary. As a social media loving, city living, single woman who is navigating life in her 30’s, this episode hit hard.
Abbi’s plan for her 30th birthday celebration is to walk from the tippy top of Manhattan to the tippy bottom. And for once, they actually succeed at a plan they set forth on! But not without some hilarious issues along the way. I laughed harder than I can remember in a long time when Ilana fell down the man hole while recording their day. Also that time Ilana and Abbi were spinning by the port and her phone fell in the water. I. Was. Dying. Phones were destroyed in this episode, which made a statement about our usage of phones in our daily lives. Ilana couldn’t both climb out of the manhole and record the antics, so Abbi had to carry her on her back.
They see a triple rainbow and can’t capture the epic moment because at that point both phones have been destroyed. They’re bummed to just “experience” this life moment without sharing it on social media. It’s pretty appropriate commentary on the fact that we’re so obsessed with sharing our lives with everyone else, instead of remembering the actual moments we’re experiencing, because we’re so busy documenting. It’s not any revelation that is going to stop society from continuing to do it, rather serves more as a reminder to appreciate the actual moment even if you’re caught in a situation where you can’t share it with all your followers.
Too real for you? We haven’t even touched on the biological and psychological feelings of reaching your 30’s without being married or having children. This is where I give huge props to Broad City. I love that these women can take expected or assumed social norms and portray them in a way that make people laugh about it, but also feel solidarity in seeing their own thoughts and feelings expressed on screen.
Abbi, despite having a fun day with her friends, definitely questions some of her life choices heading into this new decade of life. She has a literal moment of the “birthday blues” in the bathroom at brunch, and she has a very realization that the lost child they find in the mall could very well have been her own child had she had children earlier. She even mentions to Ilana throughout the day that she anticipated being married with kids by this point in her life. And I think that’s a very real feeling a lot of people have who reach this stage in life. Inevitably this real moment turns to chaos when the parent of the missing child, whom Abbi actually went to college with, accuses them of stealing her child and they race out of the mall and resume their quest.
For a half an hour show they really pack a lot into it. The idea of this picture perfect happy life is addressed again when Abbi and Ilana run into the same woman later on, who was able to track their location using the location tags from all of their social media posts (#stalker). “Cheese”(Cody Lindquist) as she’s referred to as, expresses her jealousy for Abbi’s freedom. Abbi in turn showers her with complements on how she has an awesome life, family, kids, awesome social media photos, etc. Abbi’s being super nice to a woman who totally just ruined her phone, but also super real. Everyone, it appears, feels jealousy for others whether they’ve chosen the family route, or are still flying solo. Which is basically just life. It has always been that way and will probably always be that way, but I think it’s more prevalent now putting our best face tuned and filtered life forward on social media.
That was a lot of serious talk, but again, that’s what Broad City does best. They create a commentary that is real, and timely, and important, and funny as hell. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of scenarios that are incredibly far-fetched and I do hope to see some of that sprinkled into this season as well, but for now I’m looking forward to what is in store these last few episodes. I’m going to miss Broad City once it’s done, but until then I plan to catch Ilana and Abbi’s “ageless angel ass” every Thursday night!
Rating: 9/10
