Workaholics: Hungry Like The Wolf Dog

When Workaholics returned from its midseason break, they spent the first few episodes playing with different filming styles and genres. We saw the show experiment with action sequences, horror tropes, and changes of scenery. As the season has gone on, now it seems that Workaholics is more interested fiddling with their formula and character interactions. Instead of having our three dim witted protagonists cling to and feed off of each other for comedic material, the show has been more willing to split them up and throw different characters into the mix. Not only does it break the monotony of the three stooges gimmick, not that we here are complaining, but it allows some character development on a show where usually it would be fine to sacrifice it.

            Tonight’s plot goes a pretty conventional route and it’s sort of upsetting to see. Workaholics’ style of humor is not new or original by any means; people have been doing the man-child, stoner shtick for ages, but usually Workaholics distinguishes itself from the others in different, more subtle ways. Workaholics is not usually the show to lift well worn plots and scenarios, but on this episode, they cop the plot of one of the biggest stoner films of the past twenty years. After the guys spend the night playing “Drinking and Drag-ons” they spot a commercial on television advertising the world’s most tasty breakfast burritos. As soon as the commercial finishes, it becomes apparent that the guys will be copying a page out of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

            Being responsible, the guys decide they cannot drive themselves, so they try and think of someone who would be free and desperate enough to come spend time with them. Without an instant’s hesitation, Gillian arrives to chauffeur the gang to the burrito joint. It’s fun to throw Gillian’s innocent naiveté in the mix with the guy’s hedonistic lack of self-awareness. Of course they arrive far too early for breakfast and after they let an extremely mean and angry dog loose, they’re sent barreling off into the forest and they realize they are lost. When Blake and Gillian climb a rock wall to get back near the restaurant, Adam and Ders are separated because they’re not man enough to climb themselves. A lot of the humor comes from being stuck in the woods. Ders and Adam eat lizards and find an old car that they crash. Blake and Gillian discover weed naturally growing in the woods. The real humor comes from Gillian trying to have a romantic moment with Blake. She even gets sexual with him but still he’s too unaware to pick up on her flirtations until the last moment, but at that point, Ders and Adam have arrived and his chances are squandered. Right before Ders and Adam break up the love fest, Blake and Gillian discuss whether they will let people know of their sexual interaction or not. Gillian seems scared and eager to keep it all a big secret. It will be fun to see whether they will let this relationship develop more fully.

            The only signature Workaholics twist that comes is at the end of the episode, when the guys finally eat the burritos, only to realize they’re not that good. No Hollywood ending for our favorite goons.

 

The Best of the Rest

• Someone should tell the guys that when asking for some jerky, it’s not a good idea to say, “Jerk me off, bro!”

• When Gillian says how nice it is to spend alone time with Blake, he replies with, “I know, I wish Adam and Ders were here too.”

• Gillian claims that her parents were eaten by dogs but, “way before I was born.” Hmmmm….

• Dungeon MastDers. Ders’ puns get me every time.

• Blake describes the mating process of wolves, stating that the male wolf “hooks” into the female for intercourse. Gillian bellows, “Hook it up!”