TV Recap: 2 Broke Girls, Episode 12

I was curious as to what2 Broke Girls' last episode before the holidays would be about, given that they already hit upon Christmas in the Thanksgiving episode. In fact, just like last week, it's yet another "lift-out" episode that could exist anywhere in the 2BG timeline.

And no offense to Michelle Nader, the scribe of "And the Pop-Up Sale," but would it be possible to break from the formula of opening the action at the diner? Every week they throw a couple cheap jokes at Earl, Han and Oleg, create what looks like a storyline opening for the episode, and then abandon it for whatever Mad Max and Sweet Caroline's plot du jour will be. Why don't they just open the episode in their apartment and then squeeze in a scene or two at the diner as the episode continues?

I say this because there was hardly any conflict in this episode. Mad Max needs a new oven, but, as we know, the two ladies cannot afford one. Still Mad Max has a dream oven. So Sweet Caroline reveals that she has a secret plan involving hidden TAT (Thomas Aristotle Thomas) rings that she can sell back and then claim the cash for.

Unfortunately, the woman at the cash-for-gold store (the great Dale Dickey fromWinter's Bone) will only pay $275 for a $2500 ring, foiling Sweet Caroline's plan. Sweet Caroline would like to return it to the department store from where it originated, but she doesn't have a receipt. As a last resort, using her savvy, Sweet Caroline tells Mad Max about "pop-up sale," in which people congregate under the radar to peddle their goods and go.

See what I mean? We're now three-quarters into the episode and yet there's been no real driving element to the action; it's been, well, episodic. Then, finally, something out of the blue happens to test Mad Max's and Sweet Caroline's friendship: Sweet Caroline sees some old society friends and ditches, leaving Mad Max to sell the rings by her lonesome. Mad Max again becomes Sad Max, pouting that Sweet Caroline wasn't in their friendship for the "long haul." And between the writing and Denning's sardonic delivery, I just don't buy the softer side of Mad Max or that she'd really be putting this much stock in her friendship with Sweet Caroline.

And yet Sweet Caroline does prevail! It turns out that she went to every gold store in Brooklyn and was able to finagle enough dough to buy Mad Max her dream oven after all, turning her into Glad Max and assuring her that they are indeed, besties.

For a mid-season finale (the next new ep doesn't air until January 9), this was a rather slight one. And the girls' cupcake fund remains again, at $621.25. If the show is going to keep using this device, they should really start showing movement pretty soon. I'm holding out hope, though, that since the girls have reaffirmed their faith in each other, that things will be on the up and up for them in 2012.

Now here's hoping that Han will have a plot of his own soon!