Broad City
“Sliding Doors”
Season 4, Episode 1
You're #losing.
It’s been far too long. Premiering months after previous seasons, Broad City’s newest crop of episodes is arriving just in time to comment on today’s climate. Though it’s not the true intent of the series. Alas, Abbi and Ilana have already gone on record saying the months spent between writing and shooting season four were used to refine the show’s voice (one that pokes a lot of fun at the political climate). If you’re tired of comedy shows taking their turn at making fun of our mistakes, you’re going to have a bad time.
“Sliding Doors” answers the first question that should come to any viewer’s mind: how did Abbi and Ilana meet? The show takes the story further by not only telling us how they met but how their lives would interconnect regardless of them meeting. Switching back and forth between the two worlds (one goes sideways like that season of Lost and the other is the real one), “Sliding Doors” gives a funny enough story that leads to an inevitable conclusion. They both start the same. Abbi gets swiped into the subway by Ilana who then jumps the turnstile. As they run from police, a business man throws up near them in some fashion and they either make it or don’t make it onto the train.
The sideways scenario is less obvious than it shows itself to be. The ladies end up on the train, no budding friendship to be seen. But their days are impacted by one another in small ways. But it’s cute in the end as they meet again on a bench only to be killed a minute later. The deaths are sudden and unexpected and funny to boot. Still though, there’s a realistic subtlety to the actual timeline. After not making it on the train, the women begin hanging out with each other. Abbi is still her insecure, almost clingy self when she gloms onto Ilana’s weed focused day. Ilana remains adorably irresponsible, even amping her personality to cartoonish levels. Broad City has truly been missed.
Not only is this the start of a new relationship, it’s the origin of several other facets of the show. Ilana’s hair, a straight Hymie, a bulked Bevers. It’s all there. Considering 2011 wasn’t too long ago, “Sliding Doors” paints Broad City’s world in an entirely different light. The differences in Abbi and Ilana’s lives back then was a smart idea made even better after having established a stacked universe.
Should you watch “Sliding Doors?”
Most of your questions will be answered in the premiere. Broad City is one of Comedy Central’s best shows that can stand the testament of time.