By Josh Oakley
The first time I saw Malin Akerman act was in Zack Snyder’s Watchman adaptation. Not a great
introduction, to be fair. Over the years, though, Akerman has wiped away the
smudges tied to that performance and has become one of the more dependable
comedic actors on TV. She did excellent work in her short time on Suburgatory, and is consistently one of
the best parts of Childrens Hospital,
a show with an ensemble that makes that an impressive claim. Akerman has proved
her timing well at this point. On Trophy
Wife, she can add physical comedy to her accomplishments. Nothing she’s
doing here is revolutionary, but it’s so very solid that combined with her
delivery of lines such as “Two things you should know about me. One, love Costa
Rica. Two, hate melanoma”, Akerman may wind up giving one of the better sitcom
performances of the season. Luckily, she has stiff competition from within this
very show.
That pairing of Meg and Bert is emblematic of one of the
best things about the Trophy Wife pilot.
Because this episode isn’t too concerned with premise, it has room to begin the
process of delving into these characters and their relationships. It’s clear
that Akerman and Harden are going to work beautifully together, perhaps the
best lesson the show can learn from this outing. Watkins and Whitford are great
together as well, though Pete’s lack of definition (which, as this is a pilot
episode, may not be a problem for long) stalls their story a bit. Luckily,
Watkins hits every single line she’s given perfectly, transforming what could
be a one-note character into a person both sarcastic and a tad foolish. Watkins
can say some as simple as “hamster stuff” or “oh, look, it’s another person”,
and those words become magic.
Trophy Wife does
have its share of issues, such as an overreliance on trite sitcom plots and
potential pacing issues (though the later may again be pilot-oriented). The
larger problem, which may be unsolvable, is that the show seems to be aiming
towards middle ground. It lands there with ease, thanks to the great
performances and solid writing, but no effort seems to be made here to create
the next great anything. Instead, Trophy
Wife looks to be nothing more than a well-made, reliably funny family
comedy. This isn’t the worst thing to be, of course, but it’s hard to get all
that worked up over. Perhaps the easy tone of the pilot will dissipate in the
weeks to come, and something more interesting will emerge. And if not, there
are worse things to invest in than a comedy that takes a lot of immensely talented people and gives them a place to shine.
Grade: B
Miscellaneous:
- “I have forgotten more about erections than you will ever learn.”
- “’Age ain’t nothing but a number,’ declared Poseidon.”
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