http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/new-show-makes-romantic-comedy-funny

Fingers crossed that the show gets a second season, because there’s wisdom submerged in its odd premise: as admirable as it might be to date a good person, there’s a case to be made for the lover who sees and accepts your darkest side, the one person for whom you never have to fake it.

OdinsThirdRavenPhil Bhar48069 • 2 years ago Well, of course. You don't just throw something like that away. You don't sell it, either. You stick it in your underwear drawer and (kind of) forget about it. Then a few months later, this woman, who may just be your one and only legitimate salvation from abject solitude finds it by mistake, leaps to the wrong conclusion and bails on you in a moment of existential panic, leaving you so bereft and disoriented you can't even articulate your emotions to yourself, never mind anyone else.

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/youre-worst-constant-horror-and-bone-deep-dissatis-209157#comment-1589099024

Adulthood doesn’t have a timeline. No one suddenly becomes an adult at 18 or 21 or 25 or whatever age society deems appropriate. No one wakes up one morning and realizes that they’ve grown up. No one can will themselves into adulthood just by waking up earlier or drinking only on the weekends or even getting married. Maturation is a slow process and it happens by unconsciously floundering in adolescence until you slowly but surely stop fucking around and realize what you want and why you want it. Even then, you’ll still make mistakes and change your mind and maybe even ruin some relationships you hold dear, but the difference is that you’ll hold yourself accountable for your actions. You start taking responsibility for yourself as a living, breathing human being on a planet where your actions matter, even if it’s just to your small circle of friends.

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/youre-worst-fists-and-feet-and-stuff-209408

But the second moment is the return of the split-screen motif with Jimmy and Gretchen nervously staring off into space as they contemplate the choices they’ve made. I know that I name-checked the ending to The Graduate a few weeks prior, but I definitely spoke too soon, because this is the real homage, intended or otherwise. Leaps of faith can be cathartic and beautiful, and most filmed entertainment, romantic comedies or otherwise, end on that moment of catharsis because it’s happy. But if The Graduate ended on Ben and Elaine running out of the chapel, I don’t think it would be considered such a classic. It’s that penultimate 40-second static shot of the both of them nervously staring forward into an uncertain future as their smiles slowly fade. They’ve taken the leap, but what’s next? Maybe despair. Maybe regret. Maybe failure. “There is horrible sadness and pain coming, and we’re inviting it,” Gretchen remarks when she and Jimmy reconcile, but that doesn’t really hit until they’re actually moving boxes into Jimmy’s house. They’re closer together, but as the split-screen suggests, they’re also facing their own inner fear. It’s possible the whole thing will blow up in their face, but at least they’re trying. Sometimes that’s enough. Sometimes that’s all that counts.

thealiasman • 2 years ago Wall of text ahead on what was a really terrific finale, and season:

God forbid this be the only season, but were it to go out on this episode, You're the Worst would still make for one of the great series on facing adulthood. It's got a romantic punk rock attitude about it; rebellious, yet ultimately optimistic. The inciting incident for the series is a union between the show's most "mature" characters, and while the finale does a great job of illustrating how Becca and Vernon are just as awful as anyone else, Jimmy and Gretchen taking a leap together is a lovely demonstration of You're the Worst embracing the thing it started out so afraid of. Each of the four main characters is defined by a different aspect of conscious youth that age is meant to take away (and I think in season 2, the show will discover this in Becca and Vernon too, who have potential to grow). Jimmy's a cynical narcissist who thinks he's figured the world out, Gretchen is a mess (though you wouldn't believe it looking at Aya Cash), Lindsay is restless and horny, and Edgar desperately seeks guidance and stability. To go a little deeper: Lindsay jokes about not knowing what feminism is, but that's because the responsibility she rejects includes thinking about her actions as they reflect her identity as a woman, a wife, and potentially a mom. Taking some responsibility in her life would mean giving up the ability to follow her id, consequence free, and tonight saw her face real consequences. Edgar's military history acknowledges the real and scary world you have to expose yourself to when you become socially conscious. Everyone else is in an advanced state of arrested development, so they joke about Edgar's PTSD to distance themselves from it, and ignore what it is Edgar's been through. Edgar's seen what being part of the adult world can do to a person, and it's understandably scared him. Gretchen and Jimmy's own adolescent mindset bears out for them as individuals as well, but together, they face the show's defining fear, that of going out into the world as a somewhat fully-formed person, and trying to share that person with someone else. Most sitcoms depend on will-they-wont theys because all you need is sexual chemistry, not characters. Once they do get together, the relationship always takes place between breaths in the premise-of-the-week (as an example from a show I like, but struggled with this: New Girl). Actual interaction of personalities is limited to little tastes each week, like the serialization on a USA show. You're the Worst, like my favorite TV romantic comedy, Party Down, doesn't use relationship ennui like shared space and tangled social lives to beat around the bush; it's about two people figuring out how honest they can be with one another when they don't like who it is they themselves are. That's what makes the whole finale, and especially a moment like Gretchen slumping her head on Jimmy's shoulder -not passionately kissing or hugging him to celebrate their reunion- so wonderfully romantic. No matter how scary it might seem, there's still the chance of finding that one good thing adulthood was also supposed to have promised: lasting companionship. Finding a person who sees, and understands you completely, your fellow pitbull, so to speak. You're the Worst is funny and relatable because the characters express our own childishness with an adult's vocabulary and preoccupations, but in the end, it's a show that's wrestling with growing up by hoping it might not be so bad. God, I hope this isn't the last we've seen of it.

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/youre-worst-fists-and-feet-and-stuff-209408#comment-1595781945

But that still doesn't take away from the biggest emotional moment of the episode which was Jimmy asking Gretchen to move in and Gretchen saying no - and him being okay with the rejection and her being okay with the offer. If the fire hadn't happened, they still would have remained a couple. And that's a big deal.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/09/19/youre-the-worst-fists-and-feet-and-stuff-review https://vimeo.com/89679572 http://www.vox.com/2014/9/18/6357147/youre-the-worst-fx-stephen-falk#interview http://screencrush.com/monday-morning-critic-youre-the-worst/ http://www.avclub.com/article/youre-worst-creator-stephen-falk-sideways-approach-209377