Review: Son of Zorn “The Weekend Warrior”

If you’re gonna shine, amiright?

Spoilers Below

For episode four, Son of Zorn does what just about any successful sitcom does at this point in its run: expand its character base. For the most part, though, the guest stars are not really promising as potential newcomers, but the more expansive approach does serve the core cast well. Alan spends the weekend at Zorn’s apartment, inviting over a crew of delinquents in the hopes of getting up to some mischief, but instead it deepens the father/son relationship. Elsewhere, Edie and Craig spend an evening with friends who do not get much screen time, but that is fine, because we need to know more about Edie and discovering new Craig details is always a delight.

Alan figures that his dad’s place will be the perfect spot to ingratiate himself with Jeff Holstein and the rest of the cool crowd, but alas Zorn is now actually making a concerted effort to enforce the same parenting rules as his ex-wife. This is a fairly standard “divorced parent grapples with responsibility” storyline, but the difference here is that Zorn’s Zephyrian upbringing means that responsible parenting is literally a foreign concept to him. When he experiences fatherly worry for the first time, he has to look up what is happening to him, and even then he is not sure if it is “fear” or “ovarian cysts.”

While Zorn might have to worry about bad influences for Alan in general, I do not think he needs to spend too much time agonizing over this particular crew. From a writing perspective, Jeff and company are rather ill-defined, and thus unlikely to ever appear again if the Son of Zorn creative team knows what it is doing. Now, they could prove me wrong by fleshing out these guys beyond “into destruction,” but if that happens, we can consider them practically new characters anyway.

Also of note in this storyline: Zorn’s calls to the “for a good time, call…” bathroom stall number. This gag is funny at first: Zorn just barrels ahead and calls, totally naïve to the likely hookup attempt or pranksterism on the other line. But then it deflates a bit: there is certainly some irony to Eric actually providing fun advice, but it confuses the joke by confirming the rightness of Zorn’s approaches. But then it approaches a highly satisfying rake-joke level as Zorn keeps calling Eric throughout the episode. And there are even more layers, as Eric starts to become annoyed that Zorn does not care a lick about his life. If only that depth of characterization had been granted to Jeff Holstein.

Shirley and Bill Patterson do not get that much characterization, either, but in their case, that is only because they are in a couple of scenes and their storyline is not really about them. They just happen to be there while we learn more about Edie and Craig. Edie’s Zephyrian influence comes out in a big way, as she pulls off the trick of rendering herself clinically dead. And Craig is happy to go along with it, because he is not threatened by how much of his fiancé’s ex has rubbed off on here. He knows that is how the package of a human being works. He is eternally patient, perfectly willing to delay sex so as to calm Edie’s motherly worry about what Alan is getting up with Zorn. And Craig is just so satisfyingly weird in his own right. Is the mark of great supporting characters a desire to see them get their own spin-offs? I’m not sure, but I do know I would at least like to see a Craig-centric Son of Zorn episode.

Memorable Lines and Other Stones of Insight:

-“If we get cold, we’ll start an apartment fire.”

-“You want to do something extreme, I’ll take you hiking. I saw a snake once.”

-“Ooh! Three meatballs on a spoon. Make a wish.”

-“I’ve been pantsed. I’ve been pantsed many times. And it is not hilarious.”

-“Now, I know what you’re thinking: that’s a buttload of hummus, but where’s the pita? Well, I forgot to buy it.”

-Alan really wants to prove his partying bona fides: “I thought we’d be like raging, and chugging, and blasting.”

-“I just can’t stop thinking about Zorn.” “Okay, well, whatever gets you there, baby.”

-“All right, but couch check on the rain sex. ‘Couch check on the rain…” I’m wasted!”

-“What if one of those cars belonged to some other cool kids who don’t care about anything?”