Go On Season 1 Episode 2

He Got Game, She Got Cats 

The second episode of any show sets the baseline for the rest of the season, if not the series. This is the first real week of the show, which consists of finding the right balance of jokes, writing and filming schedules. Knowing how the show can deal with the stress behinds the scenes is evident on the other side of the screen. 

Ryan is a sad dog, who gets kicked from house to house, trying to find someone who wants to play fetch with him. This might seem harsh, but Ryan all but comes out and says it half way through the episode. His life is in shambles, with the death of his wife and all so he doesn't want to be left alone. And because he gets kicked around so much, he is abrasive to people to make it seem as if he is really interested in their lives. 

The Pilot had the same basic construct as the episode, but this time around the show isn’t as dark as the pilot, and in comedy thats a good thing. The loom and gloom of Ryan and those in his support group aren’t outright seen as being horrible alone, or dad but rather slightly seen as melancholy people trying to deal with their lives. 

Sonya buys lots of cats to deal with breaking up with her boyfriend, which Ryan told her to do, also because of the death of a former pet. Sonya says exactly why other people think she uses cats (to avoid human contact) then quickly dismisses the idea. Other characters comment on how crazy Sonya is (which goes on too long) but only shows how sad and empty Sonya has become. 

The sadness of the show is being held at bay by the humor, but the bluntness of the characters in this comedy isn't working well with the entire comedy aspect of the show. Every laugh is just at the expense of a likely sad person who is teetering on the edge of sanity. It can be hard to laugh at these people knowing that they are really hurting on the inside. 

Also the show needs to slow down on locations. They rarely spend anytime in any one location, bouncing back and forth too fast to get any real sense of where the characters are. Spend more time in the office, or at the community center or at George’s apartment and his missing basketball B plot of the episode. 

Rating: Fans Only 

Original Air Date: 9/11/12 

On NBC, 9:00/8:00 central