TVF’s Permanent Roommates S02E04-“The Dinner” Review (No Spoilers)

What happens when you throw in three pregnant couples and a religious Gynaecologist at a dinner table with an intriguing mystery right in the middle of it? TVF’s Permanent Roommates Season 2, Episode 4- “The Dinner”.

I have always followed TVF shows, ever since TVF Pitchers amused me. The pilot of that show struck my fancy and I was addicted. So, I started watching the rest, and hopped on to this show, Permanent Roommates (watch it here), which — turns out — also struck my fancy! A show different from its sibling, centred on love and not entrepreneurship. You take two characters, in this case Mikesh and Tanya, and give them wonderfully polarizing personalities and sparks are sure to fly.

I must say that season 1’s aforementioned sparks were nothing but a poof of smoke. No light. The Joey Tribbiani– 

ness stupidity of Mikesh was actually funny, through a wonderful Indian rendition of that character. At the same time, Mikesh’s character was new, original and frankly surprising. It awed me that TVF had penned him. And it only made sense that his “better half” was also very intriguing. However season 2 created a wild fire! It was as if I was watching a completely new show!

Tanya’s character is nothing new – at least at the first glance. The more you watch the show, however, you see layers unfold. A practical, realistic, sharp-minded and witty girl, Tanya’s directness and – ahem – bitchiness will make you smile once or twice. It especially shows in this episode. You see how clever Tanya is. You see how comically adorkable Mikky is. And then you think to yourself, WOW!

This episode was about mystery, as I mentioned earlier. Tanya is pregnant (yes, drama!), but it is Mikesh’s baby (but not too much of drama!) and they are on their way to a dinner. The host of this family dinner is Mikesh’s Gynaecologist uncle, who has also invited two other couples. They are not too different from Mikesh and Tanya, since they are also pregnant with their children. It is fun to see the jokes, the humour, and the familiarity with these characters.

The three couples are told by the host that the dinner will decide which one of them has cheated on their partner, for the host (Mr Mikesh’s Kaka) knows who is the cheater and cannot hold the secret in any longer. As farfetched as this reason maybe, the storyline is fun to watch as it unfolds into comedy, spiced with drama. Girl 1, the Food Critic (who is actually a Blogger) and her spouse, Liquid (the guy from Pyaar Ka Punchnama), are really interesting. Food Critic is a talkative, loud woman who apparently reads Detective stories and is the first one to accept the host’s challenge in finding the culprit amongst them. While the rest arguably find the notion of discussing their personal lives with strangers absurd, this mighty soul fights back, saying it’s exciting and challenging.

What unfolds is an episode of intrigue, the interesting chemistries between the rest, the fights between the other couple, Mr Dolphin Guy and Mrs Suspicious Woman, and the hidden messages amongst the plot. Great acting too!

Lots of fights, shout matches, twists, turns and red-herrings later, we finally reach a conclusion – <insert cheater’s name here> is the cheater*. And who finds this out? Mikesh, the Joey Tribbiani of Permanent Roommates, of course!

The last part of the episode is Mikesh, contemplating on whether he will be a good father. A typical storyline and one that we have seen countless number of times (Ross, Chandler, Marshall from How I Met Your Mother etc.) however also adds new facets to the characters. The way the show is written is splendid. If you re-watch this episode (and I guarantee you that you “mostly” will!), you will find the hints that <insert cheater’s name here> was the killer cheater earlier on itself.

After the comparatively unfunny and overdramatic episodes preceding this one, episode 4 was a refreshment. This was definitely one of the best episodes of Permanent Roommates. However, (as far as I know) this was also the last episode of this season. IKR?! So less episodes per season, especially after we are used to the standard 22 episodes per season due to the American TV Shows.

Checklist for this episode:

Drama: Check

Plotline: Check

Comedy: Check

Continuity: Check

Writing: BRILLIANT

Acting: 5 out of 5

Direction: Check

Boredom Level: Non-existent

Cliché-level: 3 out of 5

So, yeah! Definitely check this one out. I would like to add though, this episode did not add to the overall plot of the season. Which, in my opinion, was a good thing. It seems more of a sitcom now, than a drama/comedy. You can watch this episode without watching any of the previous episodes, provided you know who Mikesh and Tanya are and also that they are going to have a baby (and no, they are not married yet!). So go and try it out.

*Did you really think that I would tell you who the cheater is? Ha! Of course not!

Heya, Bleedsters!
Long time, no see eh? Well, I decided to include a review of the new episode of an Indian TV show called Permanent Roommates that has been released today. It is a ritual by now for me to add that “TVF did not pay me to write this review” and also the “P.S: I wish they had!” part! This review is non-spoilery, so read on tension-free.
I have also tried to include the OVERALL REVIEW OF PERMANENT ROOMMATES with this one, since I have not reviewed the show before.
Enjoy, rate and comment!
Love,
Kunal 

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