Although Casey Wilson and Ken Marino star as the central couple on Marry Me, it’s really an ensemble show. Annie and Jake’s family and friends are in every episode, offering comedic variety. Although she has yet to have her own juicy storyline, the best scenes are the ones that feature Kay, Annie and Jake’s lesbian friend played by the hilarious Tymberlee Hill.
Those facial expressions, though.
This week, we’ll get more insight into Kay’s love life when she reveals that she’s having trouble letting go of an old love interest. Though Kay is often portrayed as a confident lesbian lothario, we may finally get to see Kay in a more vulnerable position. Instead of being the sounding board for her friends, she finally will have a problem that the gang can help her solve.
Kay doesn’t get much screen time in “Bruges Me,” as the main storyline centers on Jake’s attempt to bond with Annie’s dads. You see, Annie and Jake have begun seeing a wedding officiant to help plan their unique celebration, and the first task was to fill out a questionnaire to design the perfect ceremony. By doing so, it becomes clear that, although Annie knows a lot about Jake’s Mom, Jake knows very little about Annie’s two dads, Kevin 1 and Kevin 2. In an attempt to bond with Annie’s dads, Jake goes out to brunch with them.
It’s awkward, to say the least. So awkward, in fact, that Kevin 2 (Dan Bucantinsky) excuses himself to go to the bathroom although Kevin 1 (Tim Meadows) reminds him that he hates to use public bathrooms. As Jake struggles to find common ground with his future father-in-law, Kevin 1 looks out the window and sees, what he describes as, “a sweet hog.”
Motorcycles! Yes! Jake can relate to that. They bond over their old chopper days and Jake encourages Kevin 1 to get a new motorcycle. This idea starts a big fight between the two dads, which eventually reveals that the real issue is Kevin 1’s hesitation to get married after 35 years as a couple.
Kay helps Jake understand that the legalization of gay marriage has actually put pressure on gay couples to tie the knot. Although it’s sad, it has done wonders for those like her who are in the “rebound janey diddle business.” Jake can relate to that as well, as he had just been there himself. He runs off to convince Kevin 1 let go of his fear of commitment and propose to Kevin 2. After he leaves, Dennah asks what a janey diddle business is.
“Janey means vagina,” Kay explains. “And business is a-booming!”
While Jake is busy spending quality time with the Kevin and Kevin, his best friend Gil, is having a crisis of his own. His usual waffle booth at the annual Flemish Festival has been stolen, so he must come up with something else to do to express his Flemish pride. Though he comes to Annie and Jake’s apartment seeking Jake’s guidance, Annie offers to help. They decide to write a Flemish-themed song to sing at the festival, but as they brainstorm with Dennah and Kay they can’t seem to agree on anything. A fight ensues. Annie soon realizes that she was just sabotaging their efforts because she was afraid to sing in public.
At the end of the episode, both Annie and her father conquer their fears. Annie sings with Gil at the festival and her dads get engaged. All’s well that ends with a group hug.
Though Kay gets a few funny lines in that episode, the best episode for quality Kay time is “Win Me” which aired last week.
Just as Annie and Jake are kicking Kay and Dennah out of their apt so they can meet her favorite and only cousin, Scooby, for dinner, Gil comes over to lament about how much his life sucks. He suggests having a Law & Order marathon with his buds, but they all have plans.
“Sorry, I have a work event, or as I like to call it, an hour and a half of Bob in HR asking me what kind of gay I am, ” Kay says.
“Well, you’re obviously a soft butch lipstick flannel queen, right?” asks Jake.
Impressed at his keen observation, Kay replies, “Word.”
Gil takes it like a champ at first, but when it turns out that his basketball plans with Jake the next day are also cancelled, he gets bummed. To cheer him up, Dennah and Kay offer to play with him instead.
Later that night, Kay is watching Law & Order when Dennah rings the doorbell. She walks backward to the door never taking her eyes off the television screen, opens it, and then sits back down on the couch.
She doesn’t seem to notice Dennah walking in behind her, but once Dennah begins to complain about her latest date, she is snapped back to reality.
“Dennah? How’d you get in here?” Kay asks as she rises out of the Law & Order wormhole.
“Uh, you let me in,” Dennah replies. “What is going on?”
“Law & Order! I’ve never seen it before. Gil was right. It’s awesome.”
“Oh come on. It can’t be that go-skeletal remains? But how?” and with that Dennah sinks onto the couch and gets sucked into the Law & Order wormhole.
The next morning Dennah and Kay are still watching Law & Order.
“How many episodes have we watched now?” Dennah asks.
“Thirteen. Seventeen if you count the ones without Jerry Orbach, which I do not.”
Dennah agrees. “That man is sex in a suit. I think my favorite one is when they found that bloated body in the river.”
For some reason this reminds Kay of Gil. She makes one of her many hilarious faces.
“Oh no! We forgot to meet, Gil!” she exclaims.
They rush over to the basketball court but Gil is long gone having made friends with three 6th graders and was busy playing video games with them. They try calling him, but Gil doesn’t answer because he is too hurt that they didn’t have time to hang out with him. Kay and Dennah use the skills they learned watching Law & Order to track him down at Lazer Tag and apologize.
At the end of the episode, the whole gang gets together to sing Karaoke at an underground Latin club. As Annie and Jake sing “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, Kay makes more of her crazy facial expressions and everyone sings in Spanish.
Hopefully, tonight’s episode will just be the beginning of many storylines featuring Kay. Kay is an interesting character; I’d love to see how Kay acts on a date. In fact, there is great news on that front now that Ana Ortiz has been cast as a reoccurring love interest for Kay. Ortiz will join the cast in January.
Marry Me airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
