Quick Take: Cougar Town, "Makin' Some Noise"
"Jules, I want to be more than just a guy who sleeps with you." – Grayson
Review: Cougar Town, "Makin' Some Noise"
(S0203) In my review of "Let Yourself Go," I was hopeful that Jules would finally get over Travis leaving for college (I felt a number of episodes dating back to last season had already covered this ground) and move onto more fertile territory.
It turns out that I didn't quite get my wish, though perhaps by the time the cul-de-sac crew jammed out to Foghat's "Slow Ride" in the newly converted Jam Room (formerly Travis' room) at the end of the episode, we may have turned a thematic corner.
Getting there had its moments – some funny, some nice little dramatic touches – but overall this was not one of the best Cougar Town efforts to date.
The best parts of this episode involved the wacky adventures and machinations of the crew, which is really where this show always seems to find its strongest material. Grayson (Josh Hopkins), determined to divert Jules' (Courtney Cox) manic attention away from him now that Trav is off to school, manipulates Jules' into forming a Neighborhood Watch. And it's fantastic to watch the Watch's first outing in neighborhood protection quickly devolve into glow stick comparisons, sweaty foot wine drinking (from Tom's "collection"), and eavesdropping/spying/gossiping on the neighbors.
There was also a goodly amount of time spent sending characters to Travis' (Dan Byrd) school to check up on him. While it was nice to see him get settled into his new digs and tentatively bond with his roommate (who goes from derisively to affectionately calling him Squarehead), these scenes felt outside of the wacky wheelhouse that Cougar Town thrives in.
I hope that by the next episode that things "settle down" (and why not just have Travis visit home a lot, as he often functioned as the show's "straight man" who wryly observed how goofy the adults are anyway) and we get back to Cougar Town makin' some serious funny.
More thoughts on this week's edition of Cougar Town:
Video: Cougar Town, "Makin' Some Noise"
Check out the cul-de-sac crew's latest in full from Hulu, while available:
