My relationship with Man Seeking Woman is a touch and go basis, a show you can easily slip in to when you want and disassociate on the Pokemon Go app when you want as well. Really, I have a huge infatuation with Man Seeking Woman for its insanely surreal approach to experimental television, turning heartbreak in to bits for pure viewer entertainment. I jump in to the series when I want to explain the type of storytelling I wish I could capture to friends, something nonlinear, something abstract. Overall, however, I’ve never stuck with the series. It could be because an ex introduced me to it or simply, nothing sticks in a society built on consumption, but Man Seeking Woman is, for me, something I forgot about until it’s there once again.
This is not to indicate I don’t revere the show but more-so, a comment on my short attention span.
It’s concept is straight forward enough: a Chicago dude bumbling through the dating scene looking for love. Trying to get over a recent breakup, Jay Baruchel finds himself in many unordinary, unusual scenarios, turning the mundane into something bigger than itself. I remember watching one episode horribly hungover on a couch in Chicago, where Jay receives rejections from women in the form of college acceptance letters. I laughed out loud when one of the letters was because she is now a “female only campus” and poked my friend to point at the screen. “Me” I indicated, nudging him to say “same,” the guy I was fucking next to me the entire time.
I hate all my exes and hope they’re all having a bad Tuesday. Suffer.
Jay Baruchel is wearing a coat cause he’s cold (brr!). He’s leaving his now ex-girlfriends (Maya Erskine) house wondering out loud if they can be buddies and she responds yeah, in time! aka the universal sign for fat fucking chance! Why anyone would want to be friends with an ex is beyond me, I tried it for years because I love self harm, but I know many friends who actively talk to their abusive parents every day so what do I know! Yes queen, keep calling your mom! Keep vying for your dad’s approval!
Maybe toxicity is the key to happiness.
They shake hands, he takes his newt Isaac Newton, and Jay’s on his way home, a storm cloud following only him in otherwise sunny Chicago. Ah fuck. Not only is rain falling from this sad cloud, birds are too!
Not looking too great for my mans, Jay.
Eric Andre is going through Tinder and Jay is laid out on the couch in despair. Wondering out loud if dating apps work, Andre matches with a hot girl eight blocks away. Unfortunately for us city folks, we know eight blocks is too far. Andre starts narrowing his options down to someone a little bit closer by and is on his way out. Jay, sad, regales how him and Maya were together six years, can you believe it? He looks forlorn at a college photo of them as I yell “IT’S TIME! TO MOVE! ON!”
Do we know any married couples from college we’re truly proud to claim we know?
Andre invites him out to a place called Torch tonight where Jay will “crush gash.” He asks Jay if he’s read the Game, the way to a girl’s heart but he actually has his own game in plan, meeting up with his sister’s friend she’s going to set him up with. Andre is shocked Jay didn’t ask to see her photo before meeting her but he’s going in blind, baby. And that’s really fucking terrible for him because she lives in the dumpster and is a literal troll.
She looks like this and drinks anti-freeze, my dream.
His sister hits him with a million questions of “do you go to the gym?” “do you have a job?” He’s a temp, like me, and I respect him for that. His sister is really begging him to give her buddy Gorbachaka a chance and he does. They have dinner and he is such a nice guy to this troll person who literally doesn’t say any words and looks terrifying. He pays $12 to buy flowers for her that she chews up and spits out. He continues asking her questions to which she grunts responses to, a first date in pure silence outside his end. He says his friend Eric spend hours trolling the internet and his date gets mad and bites his hand then his leg, dragging him under the table at his offensive comment. As she runs towards him he kicks her and she hits her head against the wall. His sister asks why he doesn’t think it’s going to work and he says because Gorbachaka is, quite literally, an ugly slimy troll.
He apologizes for his outburst saying it’s on behalf of his recent breakup.
Gorbachaka stands in the door way and snarls, a sad troll. As Jay limps home to take care of the massive bite mark on his leg he reflects on his previous relationship, sad music playing the entire time. Seeing the shirt Andre left out for him, he goes out to the club and gets in line only to be pointed towards the back by the bouncer. It’s a $20 cover, bitch and he’s gotta get in but first? He’s gotta hit on this blonde girl outside. He unzips his coat to show her his shirt and she’s horribly confused. The bouncer turns him away for being an absolute weirdo and Jay Baruchel rolls with the punches because he is the perfect everyday guy.
Back home, Jay sets up his profile in his fancy shirt. His parents call while he tries uploading a photo of himself and they compliment his shirt. Chastising him for not putting plane tickets to visit them on the discover card, we get our first real fact about his character: a 27-year-old temp be still my heart. They say it’s not his fault he’s broke but his sister’s a special case, getting promotion after promotion. They ask how the date went and talk about how they met to which, Jay mutes the phone call. Sadly eating cereal, he calls his ex Maggie (Maya Ensrick). She says it’s great to hear from him and he should come over to this huge party. He bandages his leg, gets a nice shirt on, and buys Proseco for the party, excited for a new chance.
Too bad for him because Eric just dropped she’s seeing someone new named Adolf. Adolf Hitler.
In this universe, Adolf faked his own death, is great at karaoke, and is surprisingly charming. He’s having a really hard time grappling this new truth seeing as (fact 2) he’s Jewish and also it’s Adolf fucking Hitler. He murdered millions of people. Eric Andre and the girl he’s with are like hey give the guy a chance just as Maggie calls him over to say hi. Adolf rolls up in his mobile wheelchair and pours Champagne for everyone. He’s ANCIENT and freaks out when Josh (Jay) introduces himself to Hitler cuz unsurprisingly, his last name is Jewish! He’s being a charming host, offering up old music to play on the CD Player, and him and Maggie lock tongues.
Jay proceeds to get really fucking drunk.
Hitler bonds with Eric Andre over new age dating styles. Andre tells him about Tinder and Hitler admits how he got women back in his day, by telling his soldiers to get them for him and then burning down their house. That was his Tinder. Maggie said “I wish I was there with you” and Hitler says “you’d be dead” and she’s like :/ I know, I know. He goes to get her German Beer as Maggie bops on over to Jay. He says “I miss you” because he’s drunk and uh-oh! Here it comes! “Why are you with this guy?” and she says we just fell in love! He admits he loves her and asks if she still loves him? Loudly, he proclaims he’s better than Hitler and the whole room goes quiet. Eric Andre says he should leave but should apologize to Hitler before he leaves. On his way out, he tries to get into the cab with Andre and his new girl to no avail.
This character lives in Pilsen! Fun!
Taking his Proseco to go, he tries to get on the train at a very nice Belmont station that is clearly not Belmont. Having to hop the railing, he knocks the Proseco over and slices his hand open, sitting on the bench next to the platform feeling sorry about his life. Vanessa Byer sits down next to him and he attempts an incredibly awkward conversation with her, opening with “good thing it’s the weekend.” Luckily, Byer meets him with equally awkward conversation and at the last minute, he decides to get on the HOWARD BROWN LINE!!!!!!!! YOU LIVE!!!! IN PILSEN!
Buddy!!!! You’re going to have to get a very expensive Uber home!
They bond on the brown line and try to figure out if they have mutual friends starting with Jake’s, a cursed name. They find one person they both know the name of and that’s kind of it on mutual conversation that they get to before she leaves. He introduces himself to her and before she leaves asks if she’d like to go to dinner with him. She gives him a business card before awkwardly exiting. Looking at this card like his life depended on it, he exits the train as he gets a call from the MacArthur foundation. He’ll be receiving the genius grant for picking up Laura. Asking many inquisitive questions on how he struck up a conversation with her, they take notes on how Jay secured this date. He’s enthusiastic to tell them on the phone about how he asked a random girl out and this group of blokes are very excited for him.
Next up, the President.
Mr. Obama calls to praise him about how the old-fashioned way still works when asking out someone. Getting out of a car waiting for him with his name on it, a ton of reporters flank his side to interview him on how exactly he secured a date with someone. “Hitler aint’ got shit on you dude” Andre yells, pointing at him from outside his window. Jay’s on top of the freaking world, even going so far as to let his pet Isaac Newton go.
A hawk immediately swoops on to his windowsill to pick Isaac up.
At only 10 episodes per season, coming in at 30 episodes total, I’ve gotta say Man Seeking Woman is one of the more inventive shows I have seen in a long time. I’m a sucker for anything bit heavy and abstract, judging by the giant Scott Pilgrim poster on my wall, and Man Seeking Woman is absolutely inventive in bringing in big time actors throughout it’s three season run making a cohesive show that is sketch heavy as much as it is plot. You invest in Jay’s character, a good guy bumbling through his own world, and relate to how heavy everything feels following a breakup, how no one seems/looks as good as your ex, how your ex’s new partner is the devil incarnate. I’m going to give this pilot a 9.5/10 because I really liked it but I can’t be too easily impressed according to film Twitter.