Dr. Ken, Season 2, Episode 16: “A Dr. Ken Valentine’s Day”
Original airdate February 3, 2017.
Night fever, night fever
Ken is relieved to learn Allison doesn’t want to do anything for Valentine’s Day, but she has second thoughts when she sees Dave going to great lengths to make it a special evening for his girlfriend. Ken forgets to do his part in Clark’s romantic scavenger hunt for Connor. Pat scores a date with Megan, the woman he lied to about being Dave’s adopted father (episode 9). Damona and Eric have dinner at the same restaurant as Pat and Megan, causing Damona some stress because Eric doesn’t know about her relationship with Pat. Molly and Jae are determined to treat Valentine’s Day like any other day because they’re too cool to participate in the “corporate holiday.”
We know how to do it
This is the odd episode with interesting stories but disappointing results. Funny stuff isn’t very funny. Cute stuff isn’t very creative, and resolutions are terrible. I still can’t stand Jae, but now I can’t stand Emily (Dave’s girlfriend, played by Ken Jeong’s real-life daughter) either. I decided some time ago that I won’t hold a sitcom episode’s tag against it, but this week’s is truly horrible. Was it written by middle-schoolers? I don’t care how close your family is; you don’t squeeze six of you onto a couch when other seats are available.
Gimme that night fever, night fever
Dave Foley and Suzy Nakamura act the heck out of their poorly written parts, and Ken Jeong gets to be mostly a supporting actor, when he is consistently his best. Pat’s “Really? In the realm of all possible Valentine’s Days, this did occur to me” is the best line in the episode.
We know how to show it
I have to say this thing had some promise. I like the way it used one theme to connect several, separate, overlapping stories. I also like it when Ken tells Molly that “We already paid our dues; we earned our apathy, young lady. You haven’t!” because this Gen-X-Millennial difference is subtext not enough sitcoms make decent use of — Ken could be talking about a lot of things here. So the process is admirable while the product is lacking. 2.5 of 5 latex gloves.
