Broad City
“Jews on a Plane”
Season 3, Episode 10
Nagga what?
For the past nine episodes, Broad City has been dealing with all manners of life. Season three of the internet turned basic cable television series was the most ambitious yet when the girls took a step into small albeit interesting story arcs. Abbi deals with hooking up with Trey and the fallout of having him fall for her; Ilana sees that her “friends with benefits” ways lead down a lonely path as Lincoln settles down with another woman. And several times throughout their adventures over these episodes, the girls (mainly Abbi) hint that they might need to broaden their friend group. Now imagine all of those story beats were largely ignored, only to be mentioned in passing. That’s what happened in this year’s finale. The result is a complicated but just as funny bottle episode that almost leaves the girls in the same places they were at the beginning of the season.
“Jews On A Plane” resumes where the previous episode left off. Abbi and Ilana are separated on the plane and start to work their way towards one another. It’s here that the two are called up to the front of the group and asked what they want out of the trip. Abbi gives her desire which is pretty genuine. Ilana, on the other hand, only wants to sit next to Abbi and get into the “Mohel High Club” which is basically hooking up with a Jewish guy on a plane. Both of her wants are achievable but they go along with her immature nature that’s seemingly been getting emphasized more throughout the course of the season. Last episode, we got a miniscule glimpse of Ilana’s remorse when it comes to Lincoln but that’s presumably it for now. Her incessant need to hook up with anything with legs and genitalia is holding her back, both realistically and character wise, from real, genuine growth. It doesn’t help that Abbi isn’t deterring the attitude.
On top of learning the girls’ true desires, we also learn that Seth Green’s Jewish group leader character is only trying to hook people up because he gets a commission, one that is doubled if they do it before landing. It’s kind of crooked and equally endearing as couples pair off with one in particular getting really into it. Anthoer neat fact is Abbi’s full name: Abbila. Green’s character says it in passing as he calls her to the front but I don’t think we’ve heard it before.
The episode starts out with the girls getting interrogated so, naturally, the story unfolds in a slow, wacky style. Flight attendants Tymberlee Hill and newcomer Tracee Ellis Ross decide to take matters into their own hands, becoming school reunion legends as they try to take down suspected terrorists Abbi and Ilana. The latter two, however, are only trying to fix Abbi’s midflight period problem (the attendants overhear the girls talking about an “explosion of blood”). But while Abbi is asking around for a real tampon, Ilana decides to build it using gathered material like pita bread, a beanie, string and other random items. It’s weird and out there but Ilana has a fine idea even though her tampon was monstrous.
Should you watch “Jews On A Plane?”
While the episode is fine and everything, there’s a feeling of emptiness that becomes overwhelming by the end. This season was different if not ambitious when it came to storytelling but threads were left untethered to concrete solutions. Ilana and Lincoln are probably not done but he was only in a handful of episodes. Abbi and Trey weren’t given their due diligence and, again, a character was left out in lurch. The girls went to new places and gave us more backstory than ever before. There were montages, cool editing tricks, and great direction. Guest stars made this season one of the biggest yet. But this season finale felt a little less heartfelt than season two’s “Saint Mark’s” that had the girls hopeful for more cherished adventures and memories as the camera panned to the sky, signaling a new wave of excitement. “Jews On A Plane” was just another episode of Broad City. While that’s inherently a good thing, it would’ve been nice to see some of the growth from the season be utilized.