Another Period
“Seance”
Season 3, Episode 2
Comedy Central
Sounds like the Jewish package.
Shows that opt to have themed episodes (in reference to holidays for instance) that are aired in the off season of said theme stand out. Most of the time it doesn’t matter unless the theme in question is particularly offensive. A Christmas episode of a show shouldn’t be shown in May; it’s just weird. But here we are almost in February with a Halloween episode of Another Period. Comedy Central is to blame for holding the show to air as a companion with Drunk History. Admittedly, it’s mostly jarring as opposed to annoying. It didn’t affect the outcome of the enjoyment but “Séance” does stand out.
A ghost is believed to be running around the Bellacourt mansion so Lillian – blaming herself for the purposeful murder of Mayor Cutie and concluding that the ghost is in fact the dead dog – hires Harry Houdini (Gil Ozeri) in order to rid themselves of the spirit. The famous magician is almost instantly revealed to be a fake as he up charges the family for superfluous ghost deterring packages. He’s also kind of a turd, shown when he speaks to anyone but Lillian. Poor Albert only wants to show his magic skills to Houdini but the storied magician keeps sending him on wild goose chases of sorts. By the way, it turns out that Beatrice is excellent at magic.
Elsewhere in Bellacourt manor, Peepers has enlisted Garfield to help him catch the ghost. He’s taking this as serious as his regular duties which means it’s deftly serious. They settle on it being Garfield’s imaginary friend “Sticky Johnathan” (he leaves sticky residue on the servant’s stomach during the night…) as they set up traps throughout the house. This plot doesn’t really go anywhere but it does culminate with Peepers giving a “spirit walk” that is so stupid, so inane, and nonsensical it will make the hardest of people laugh. It’d be no surprise if that C-plot was written around that joke. It’s that stupidly funny.
Moshe Kasher is credited with writing this episode and, in terms of the jokiness, it’s all together. The story keeps to the mansion but strays whenever it can. If one scene is coming off as boring, the show jumps to another set of characters. Another Period is usually good at juggling its cast but this week came off as trying too hard. The climax of the ghost bit revolves around The Commodore living in the walls. It’s not the pay off we need or deserve but at least we know where he’s been since losing his home. Again, there are a lot of scenes that deal with set up and punchline. Peeper’s spirit walk and all of the incest jokes make up a bulk of the laughs here. At least it all works. Also, it never gets tiring to see famous figures turn out to be big jerks.
Should you watch “Séance?”
Good jokes and a so so story make for a run of the mill episode of Another Period.