Another Period
“The Love Boat”
Season 3, Episode 4
Comedy Central
At your age, even the lesser outdoors can kill you.
Another Period is built on its ensemble and the stories they participate in. The writers know when a scene should end, given away especially when they seemingly run out of jokes. Still, it all works in concert just enough to get what the plot is and move along. Most of the time the A-plot feels more like a B-plot and the B-plot is a C-plot and so on. The end product is always a good laugh.
“The Love Boat” has Dodo and Mr. Peepers going on a 24 hour pleasure cruise headed by Marc Evan Jackson’s easily excitable Captain. When a storm hits, the two spend what they believe to be their last moments together making passionate, loud, creative love. Long time viewers of the show will acknowledge that this has been Peepers’ dream for some time. He’s a simple man who’s never experienced anything more than the bare minimum of happiness (according to a live-in butler).
When the Captain introduces the two to their quarters, Peepers is surprised he’s given his own closet space complete with his own cot. The joy in his eyes as he bounces his butt on the paper thin bedding is eclipsed only by the exuberance he feels post-coitus with Dodo. Sadly, she doesn’t feel the same – telling him to keep it between the two of them (to be fair, he’s planning their wedding on the ride back home). Her attitude highly contradicts how she was feeling when she thought they were in danger (She belts "I'm ordering you to order me!" as Peepers initially says no to her sex offer. His response of "Lady Dodo: get that ass in the air" is the most commanding he can get). Dodo’s further neglect of Peepers’ feelings then leads the butler to make the most harrowing decision of his life: to leave the mansion. Garfield is promoted to Head Butler and Peepers sets off to new horizons.
The other plot involves Lillian and Beatrice being employed to help Hortense test her weather machine. To be fair, they only join the crusade when a handsome Spanish weather enthusiast (banging a Spaniard is on both of their bucket lists). Nothing gets going until they kill him by accident and then ask Hamish to deal with the body. The solution? Plop it in Frederick’s bed. The poor guy thought he’d had a mysterious night only to be accused of murder by Will Sasso and Jon Daly’s bumbling police men. They can’t finger Frederick as the killer – even as they get a crudely drawn confession – and are forced to let him go when Dodo asks bluntly “Did you kill him? Then why did you say you did?” Only a mother’s stern questions can get the right answers out of her child.
Should you watch “The Love Boat?”
As previously stated, Another Period does well with jokes but struggles with story. “The Love Boat” is a textbook example for this show. It can’t do justice for everyone but it tries its best with a majority of them. At least the talent is consistent. Along with the material, that’s all you could ask for from a faux reality show set in the early 1900’s.