Stream It Or Skip It: ‘I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson’ Season 3 on Netflix, Where The Comedy Series Returns With More of Its Distinct Brand Of Weird

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson returns to Netflix for its third season, fresh off an Outstanding Actor In A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series Emmy win for its creator and star. Expect plenty more of the absurdist, cerebral comedy that’s become the show’s established brand since its 2019 debut, returning members of the ITSYl supporting players, and a cohort of top-shelf guest shots; Fred Armisen joins the show in the first episode, and season 3 will also include new and returning appearances from Patti Harrison, Tim Heidecker, Ayo Edebiri, Jason Schwartzman, Tim Meadows, and Will Forte, amongst others. 

I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE WITH TIM ROBINSON – SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: A voiceover guy brays across an establishing shot of Washington, DC. “If it’s Wednesday night, that means it’s Barley Tonight, the no-holds-barred debate show with your host, Barch Barley.” Cue Tim Robinson as Barch, pointing arrogantly at the camera in a send-up of the conservative cable yak-o-sphere that kicks off ITYSL season 3. 

The Gist: Nothing’s off limits, Barch declares, and fighting’s a lost art. “But if you start to win, I go on my phone.” And Robinson as Barch is seen to slump dejectedly in his chair, grazing on his iPhone and completely ignoring his guests. “I have NO problem being on my PHONE for HOURS!” 

Weird, funny, and a little off-putting, the opening sketch of the third go-round for I Think You Should Leave is built from components that have become trademarks of the hit comedy series: a relatively straight set up, Robinson himself becoming ever more squirrelly with his features and frame, and an eventual detour from the conventional into something stranger and more distinctly goofy. After a few instances of Barch Barley’s belligerence and badgering nature becoming petulant and disengaged quicker than you can say “Medieval jousting game on my phone,” ITYSL then hits us with the standard theme and the usual quick transition. Now we’re in a team building workshop, where a motivational guest speaker in his shawl collar sweater unwittingly sets off the confrontational inner life of Robinson’s character, who naturally escalates the whole thing until the entire group of corporate types are forced to engage. (“He’s acting like he’s throwing fake water at us.”) It’s a hallmark of the show – the humdrum stuff of our collective existence is steadily ripped open to reveal the raw peculiarities of the human condition. 

Elsewhere in the opening ep, Fred Armisen appears as a frustrated dad who pays big money to teach his misbehaving sons a lesson, only to discover that the mysterious firm he hired to help him do that doesn’t believe in realistic production values. And when a few mid level office professionals receive some advice from their boss – ITYSL really enjoys skewering mid level office professionals – a seemingly noble offer of help from Robinson’s character becomes an outlet for the kind of left field absurdity that has made memes out of so much of the show’s particular brand of comedy. And it’s all over in less than 20 minutes.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Mr. Show with Bob and David, which these days is streamable in full on Max, has always felt like a touchstone for Tim Robinson and ITYSL, particularly in the way its disparate sketches find ways to complement and tumble into one another. And wouldn’t some kind of crossover that featured Diane Morgan’s Philomena Cunk from the deadpan laugh fest that is Cunk on Earth squaring off against one of Tim Robinson’s psychotically goofy characters be a hoot?

Our Take: It’s not easy to make a consistent impression out there in Internet Land. But from ‘Dan Flashes’ and ‘sloppy steaks’ to ‘Coffin Drop’ and ‘Baby of the Year,’ I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson has managed in just a few short years of existence to become comedy shorthand for tweets and memes, and insert itself permanently into the comedy zeitgeist as it now exists in our social media landscape. That’s due in no small part to Robinson and the ITYSL writers’ particular brand of goof. But maybe it’s a function of our society, too. The series is so comfortable building outrageous bits off of the numbing mundanity we’re often forced to endure just to complete a life task or work role. And, just like out here in the real world, Robinson is adept at disguising that absurdity with sleight of hand. So often on ITYSL, a scenario that feels normal or everyday zigzags without warning into something entirely unexpected, a foul-mouthed and ludicrous journey into the unknown; it’s like turning into a new aisle in the supermarket only to encounter an octogenarian and an influencer in a curse-heavy slap fight because their shopping carts collided. All you can do is stand there and watch the insanity unfold, and maybe hide a grin behind your hand.     

Sex and Skin: Well, there may have been some bare chested dudes or bathing suit-clad ladies to note here, if Robinson’s character in ‘Summer Loving,’ ITYSL’s kooky riff on reality dating competitions, was even remotely interested in advancing to the show’s next round. But instead, he’s constantly dissociating in favor of taking rides on the ‘Summer Loving’ house’s zip line. Splash! 

Parting Shot: “I’m gonna fucking kill you, Driving Crooner!” This line from the opening episode’s hilariously off-kilter final sketch is our pick to be one of the first bits to go viral from the new season of I Think You Should Leave. 

Sleeper Star: Steve Moulton, an occasional ITYSL player who you may remember from the “1-800-555-MITCH” sketch – in that one, he was a plumber who fakes getting his foot stuck in a guy’s toilet – guests here as Alex, who together with Tim Robinson’s Stan devolves a conventional corporate team building exercise into a bizarre emotional breakdown that wouldn’t be out of place in a kindergarten classroom. 

Most Pilot-y Line: Sometimes – often – in I Think You Should Leave, it’s all about a particularly sublime line delivery as it relates to Tim Robinson’s character suddenly resembling someone who simultaneously swallowed a bug and their own chin. “Ronnie, I feel like you’re just here for the zip line.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson hasn’t lost a step in its third season, and in fact it’s probably gained a few, given that the inherent strangeness beneath the surface of our society is only becoming more inflamed. And with its brevity-minded format, the series continues to be a perfectly consumable size for a quick shot of comedic crazy whenever the moment calls for it.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges