Season 1 | Episode 4 | “D is for Debbie” | Aired Oct 23, 2014
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The A to Z's of the 'A to Z' pilot This week’s A to Z, “D is for Debbie,” is the most on-the-nose episode yet, as far as names go. While the past couple of weeks have brought us vague topics, like “Big Glory” and “Curiouser and Curiouser,” “Debbie” refers pretty directly to the subject of the episode: Zelda’s Aunt Debbie, who has passed away.
Zelda calls Ben to tell him the news because she has to attend the funeral and that means skipping a date they had planned. Were it not for their concrete plans that she had to cancel, I’m not positive Zelda would have mentioned the funeral at all until after it was over. She’s Mrs. Closed Off. That makes funerals (especially of the festive, celebrate-life variety that Debbie’s friends and family throw) more than a little awkward for her.
Zelda does not invite Ben to the funeral. I got the feeling during the episode we’re supposed to judge her or feel sorry for her for not inviting him to the funeral, like it would prove she was in a better place in her life if she had asked him to go and support her. But, as a fellow person who never knows how to behave at funerals, I feel like I need to step up and show support for Zelda.
First of all, she’s the one who suffered a loss and she should be allowed to grieve in whatever way makes her the most comfortable. If that involves her significant other supporting her, that’s fine. If it involves a healthy dose of alone time to process her grief, that’s fine too. The fact that Andrew just showed up at the funeral, completely uninvited, is honestly kind of violating and I’m shocked that Zelda took it so well.
Second, let’s point to the pivotal fact (the one that’s used as the excuse for why Zelda didn’t invite Andrew to begin with): They’ve been dating for three weeks. The funeral is their ninth “date.” It’s absurd to expect someone you’ve known for less than a month to invite you to a funeral. The point of the episode seems to be that, if it’s the right person, there’s no such thing as “too soon” to invite him to the big stuff. And maybe that’s true, but let’s not forget the first point: Zelda doesn’t need an excuse not to invite him.
But Andrew isn’t the only funeral crasher. When Big Bird threatens to fire Stu (he falls into her “honey trap” by playing with a foosball table she leaves out to lure unsuspecting employees into being unproductive and flag themselves for a firing), he needs to come up with a big, profitable idea for the company by the end of the day or else. It’s the most transparently sitcom-y plot of A to Z‘s short life. He notices a YouTube star, Tyler Ward, in the background of a photo from the funeral and inspiration strikes. His plan is to get Tyler to sign up for a Wallflower profile to drive more users to the site. Business-wise, it’s not a bad idea. Friend/human being-wise, it’s kind of terrible that he goes to the funeral to try to convince him to sign up.
Overall, I’d have to call this my least favorite episode of A to Z to date. Even Big Bird was off her game, and you know how I feel about her:
What did you think of this week’s A to Z? Were you a little disappointed too? Sound off in the comments!
A to Z airs Thursdays at 9:30/8:30C on NBC.
