Abbi and Trey take their relationship to the next level and Ilana goes through a breakup on Broad City.
Broad City is no longer the same show.
In “Burning Bridges,” Abbi and Ilana show they go through emotionally upsetting situations without destroying their iconic friendship.
The overall tone of the show was less goofy and more dramatic. For once, Ilana (Ilana Glazer) gets upset and breaks down when handling tough situations rather than laughing through them.
After Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) and Trey (Paul W. Downs) hooked up for the first time last week, it was unclear whether their encounter would be a one-time fling or if it would turn into something more. This week, the show revealed that they have been regularly hooking up, and Abbi has still not told Ilana about it. While hooking up in the shower, Trey asks Abbi out on a real date because they haven’t had the chance to talk outside of the bedroom. Abbi reluctantly says yes, and it seems like she is more unsure of what she wants out of the relationship rather than not being at all interested. Trey is ecstatic when Abbi says yes, saying “Awesome sauce.” Typical Trey.
This episode throws Ilana on a total emotional rollercoaster. Her day starts out great as she skips down the street, repeating “Madonna, Rihanna, Ilana.” It quickly takes a turn for the worst when her parents call her to say they are going to be late to meet her for dinner to celebrate their anniversary. Abbi then lies to Ilana saying that she can’t go to her parents’ anniversary dinner because she’s “training Shania Twain,” which Ilana knows is Abbi’s go-to lie.
“It kills me to feel any distance here,” Ilana says, pointing to herself and Abbi. It’s upsetting to watch this scene because Ilana has no idea what is coming. Abbi has been lying to her about Trey, which is a pretty big aspect of her life. The women usually tell each other everything, and it is obviously tearing up Abbi that she has been lying to her friend.
Ilana and Lincoln’s (Hannibal Buress) relationship has always been ideal. They have acted like best friends and have been very open about their sexualities. Ilana and Lincoln established earlier this season that they would have an open-relationship and see other people. However, Lincoln meets Ilana at the park with a backpack full of her stuff to tell Ilana that he wants to break up with her and be monogamous with the other woman he has been seeing. He also tells her he does not want to stay friends because he has to move on. Ilana tries to play it cool by shaking his hand but ends up pointing two finger guns at him, making a fart noise with her mouth and running away from the table. Her reaction isn’t very surprising because Ilana is not exactly emotional, but it is very obvious she is extremely upset. It feels so wrong to have to say goodbye to one of the best TV couples ever.
AHHhhhhHHhhhhh. #BC3 pic.twitter.com/U2JzJu8e4c — Broad City (@broadcity) April 7, 2016
Abbi does not know how to prepare for a date with Trey. While getting ready for her date, she tells Bevers (John Gemberling) she’s in “denial” and hasn’t even told Ilana about him.
“My Trey? Why would you be embarrassed? I’m obviously straight, but I would absolutely suck him dry,” Bevers says. At least Abbi has someone to support her in this unusual relationship because she is obviously conflicted and it’s even worse that she has to go through it alone. He even helps her pick out an outfit for her date, which ends up being the same blue dress Abbi wears to every event. It’s the thought that counts.
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Trey is obviously really into Abbi. He shows up to the date 30 minutes early and even says he moved his “cheat day” so he could eat a good meal with her. He starts off the date with a toast to “new beginnings,” which makes Abbi uncomfortable so she excuses herself to go to the bathroom. On the way, she notices Ilana’s family eating at the same restaurant and unfortunately, Ilana’s mom notices her. Abbi sits down reluctantly, but she can’t leave because Ilana tells her she is “very vulnerable right now.”
It can be argued that Ilana is always vulnerable and unstable because she is usually flustered and all over the place, but this time, she really means it. She even started to hook up with a man in the bathroom of the restaurant after she made eyes with him across the restaurant. However, when he admits he is in a monogamous marriage and his wife is nearby. “Open relationships are unstable,” the man said and Ilana could not handle it and hastily left.
The tribute to the Mrs. Doubtfire scene in which Abbi is running back and forth between the two tables is a classic, but it is done in total Broad City style while proving that Abbi and Trey are pretty perfect for each other. Abbi accidentally, and very drunkenly, told Trey “Happy anniversary” when she was at their table after she left Ilana’s parent’s anniversary celebration. However, Trey is happy because Abbi remembered the anniversary of their first kiss which was four weeks prior. Trey even gets Abbi a corsage which is “kind of a joke but it’s also real,” which Abbi forgets to take off when she heads back to Ilana’s table. Trey is so awkward, but so is Abbi and it is completely adorable.
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The jig is up when Ilana’s mom begins choking and Abbi needs to call Trey to give her the Heimlich maneuver. He parkours across the restaurant to dramatically save the day, but when Ilana finds out that Abbi was on a date with him, she freaks out. Ilana goes outside to try to calm herself down by saying her “Madonna, Rihanna, Ilana” mantra, but it isn’t working. Abbi comes out to tell her that Trey means nothing to her, which he unfortunately hears when he leaves the restaurant. Their relationship was just starting to turn into something real, so hopefully Abbi’s heat-of-the-moment comments don’t ruin their bond.
“He’s so sweet and tight-bodied and I’m gonna want full dick deets when I’m done,” Ilana tells Abbi before telling her about her breakup with Lincoln. She does not really care that Abbi and Trey were seeing each other because she is happy for her friend and frankly more upset about her break up right now. It is weird to see Ilana so visibly upset about a boy. She always seems very emotionally unattached to the men in her life, but Lincoln was obviously different. The episode shows a completely different side of Ilana, and it makes her seem like more of a real person than just an on-camera cool person.
Via giphy.com
This episode, although extremely sad, invigorated something new into Broad City. Rather than its usual slapstick comedy and outrageous outbursts from the two women, this episode showed that they were real people too while maintaining the usual comedic aspects of the show. The relationship between Abbi and Ilana seemingly went unphased, because Ilana asked for those “dick deets” and the episode ended with the two women sitting in the bathtub telling each other every minimal secret they’ve ever had.
The core part of the show — the dynamic friendship between Abbi and Ilana — stayed intact while completely shaking up the tone the show has had over the past two years. Now everyone watching wants to know if Trey and Abbi will end up together and if Ilana will ever find someone to love her the way Lincoln did, so Broad City did a good job keeping its fans interested in the show that typically does not have a set plot.
Broad City airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central
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