The League: "The Au Pair" (Episode 3.03)

During this episode of The League, an advertisement for Buffalo Wild Wings aired, which fully emphasized the sports bar chain’s slogan: ‘Wings. Beer. Sports.’ Buffalo Wild Wings makes its demographic very clear in this advertisement, just as The League reinforces its demo in this episode. Dudes. Beer. Sports. And in a way, this episode is the TV equivalent of Buffalo Wild Wings: bro-tacular, heavy on the football-and-babes talk and providing that strange combination of comforting, effortless entertainment and the unintentional causing of stomach cramps (why yes, there is a ‘retrograde uterus’ joke, in case you were wondering). With that in mind, this was a pretty great episode.

We open with Andre in a Miami Vice~~meets~~Yo! MTV Raps setup that turns out to be an online dating video where our favorite plastic surgeon tries to prove his manliness (he orders his steaks rare, y’all). Taco is directing and Paul Scheer’s delivery is totally committed and, in the context of the League universe, totally flawless. Tacky dating videos, if the parties involved are into them, are usually comedy gold, so the episode starts on a solid note (also, Andre trying anything physical activity-related is pretty much always funny). Taco splices the dating video with shots of animals getting intimate, intending for them to be ‘subliminal messages’ (“Obvious would be humans having sex.”).

Once again, the ‘A’ Plot is centered around Ruxin, who has decided to get an au pair since Baby Geoffrey didn’t get into the exclusive Jewish preschool he was hoping for (see last week’s episode). Nick Kroll is in spectacular form in this episode with all of Ruxin’s smug bastard affectations, right down to his faux-sexy delivery of the word ‘au pair.’ It’s a little stupid, but it’s effective.

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So the league members go to Ruxin’s to watch this week’s games and ogle the au pair, who seems inexperienced, looks terrified when handling Baby Geoffrey and is incapable of making guacamole that doesn’t cause severe intestinal trauma (Taco subtly calls her out on it). But the guys love her anyway, because she’s young and fit, and the awkwardness of the ensuing scene, particularly Ruxin’s attempts to balance covertly eyeing the au pair and showing affection towards Sofia, is surprisingly engaging.

The presence of the au pair also beckons a question: why isn’t Jenny watching the game with them? It just seems inconsistent with her character development and becoming a regular member of the league. Like she’s one of the guys for the first couple episodes, and then when this au pair comes along, suddenly she isn’t. There are still some things the dudes can only do together. Although in this scene’s defense, it does address an issue that can come up sometimes in co-ed friend groups. When a girl enters the picture, guys sometimes change how they conduct themselves around their female friends. It happens.

The ‘B’ Plot is actually more entertaining and more in keeping with the show’s fantasy football-obsessed roots. Kevin and Taco are drinking at a (very fancy) hotel bar when they come across fantasy football guru Matthew “The Talented Mr. Roto” Berry, whom Kevin tries to court by trying to avoid discussion of fantasy football and being subtle, but of course, it ends up a less-than-subtle meeting performed very well by both parties. Tied into this plot are Andre’s quest for an online date and ongoing duel with Pete, who he accuses of “vulturing” in fantasy football and in real life. It turns out Pete does vulture one of Andre’s dates (lines about rock climbing and all), but in the end, karma is served in the form of the ultimate vulture-er, who turns out to be Matthew Berry himself.

The ‘C’ Plot is another Kevin and Jenny plot: a work-addled Jenny catches Kevin in a lie (about whether or not he’s watching porn on her work computer) and she explains that she can figure out every time he’s lying by his speech pattern (“What?”). So he goes to an expert on lying—Ruxin, of course—and the ensuing scene of Ruxin’s instruction is solid cringe-worthy comedy, if not also informative (His explanation for Baby Geoffrey’s bite marks on his phone? He works at an orphanage and the child he minds’ parents were killed in a freak parasailing accident. It would be horrible if it wasn’t so impressive.).

“The Au Pair” is an optimistic sign of The League returning to first season form, which is a shame because everyone was probably watching the World Series instead. The plot was a little thin, but the fantasy-nerd bits with Matthew Berry were fantastic and “vulturing” is one of those great terms used here first in a football context but that can be applied to pretty much everything. It’s an episode definitely worth watching, especially for the opening scene and Ruxin’s “crackers and jelly” dance alone (“Sweet and salty, crunchy too,” goes his enthusiastic refrain) and subsequent 180 into a Don Draper wannabe to impress the au pair. But mostly “crackers and jelly.” Looks like a rather tasty combination, actually.

Miscellaneous extra goodness:
-Taco referring to two totally unrelated but nonetheless attractive women at the bar as “those twins”
-Ruxin’s screeching vulture noise. Impressive.
-Andre on rock climbing: “Up there with the lack of oxygen, everybody looks like Tom Cruise.”
-Ruxin: “We’re in a law firm. Lying is encouraged here.”
-Matthew Berry: “You will be dating a Chicago Bear by the end of the week.”

The League: “The Au Pair” (Episode 3.03)