Edgar's episode of 'You're The Worst' is a true American horror story
Edgar from You’re The Worst deserves a solo spinoff called "You’re The Best," but given the weight of his first spotlight episode, it might belong in another FX franchise.
The fifth episode of Season 3, entitled "Twenty-Two," unfolds on the same day as last week's "Men Get Strong," this time following Edgar through the disquieting resurgence of his PTSD now that he's off his meds.
"We're getting pretty deep into Edgar's psyche, or damaged psyche, this year," said series creator Stephen Falk, who wrote and directed the episode. "I think we do have a responsibility to deal with his combat issues. We can’t just mention that and keep going, you know?"
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As Edgar, Desmin Borges has long been the show’s sleeper star, too-often overshadowed by Lindsay (Kether Donohue) if only because her theatricality is more screen-ready than Edgar’s roughed-up kindness. As the episode unfolds -- embracing a bleakness unseen since Season 2's "LCD Soundsystem" -- each scene brings more to light about the depth of Edgar's scarring from Iraq.
It begins with your average bout of incessant insomnia. He tosses and turns, touches the wall, stares out the window -- even gets up for a dance break (Borges has moves, and between him and Donohue, this show needs a musical episode yesterday).
Next, there's the fractured reality. An invisible wall divides Edgar from the rest of the world, and for the first time the audience is on the other side with him. Dorothy wants Edgar to get better for her, and at Jimmy's house, Edgar's personal demons make his friends' actions seem more impermissibly reprehensible than ever.
"Even without his war experiences, Edgar is a bit of a punching bag," Falk told Mashable via email. "However, he does and has lashed out on occasion. However, he is equal parts loyal and lonely and in some ways probably needs the abuse."
An innocent vehicle driving by night is the first tell of a trigger. After that, Edgar is beset upon by acute paranoia. Everywhere he looks he sees snipers, assailants, I.E.D.s on the side of the road. He's too numb to external stimuli to even care that Gretchen and Jimmy are literally fornicating in his car while he drives them -- then again, knowing those two, this could be a regular occurrence.
Now exhausted by every remedy -- "Booze, drugs, talk therapy, pills" -- Edgar gets a chance from Veterans Affairs to try a virtual reality experience allegedly effective in subduing trauma. The catch? He has to resume taking the 11 types of pills he was on, pills which make his head feel "blotchy."
"It’s something we heard more and more in our research — that there is a purposeful disconnect between the VA and the military as a whole," Falk told Mashable. "His treatment is a story point and not indicative of any one healthcare worker but rather symbolic of how mental health, especially for veterans, is a field in its relative infancy, how overstretched they are as a whole, and how bureaucracy often is forced to dehumanize the individual."
As Edgar describes the treatment: “It’s just turning down the volume. It’s not living.” He storms out after hurling a chair across the chief of staff's office and ends up drinking booze in his car next to the highway.
Whether by coincidence or fate, Edgar's path crosses with a tow truck driver who also served in the armed forces (Corey Brill). He knows exactly what Edgar's going through without needing any explanation.
“The military’s job is to sand down our humanity just enough to where we can take a life," he says.
It turns out the episode title is the number of U.S. veterans who commit suicide daily. As with any personal suffering, Edgar’s new acquaintance tells him to find what works for best for him -- not the recommendations of girlfriends or authority figures.
“But the minute you stop looking for someone else to cure you, maybe you start living again,” he says sagely. It sure feels like an epiphany, but this is You're The Worst. Gretchen long since dispelled the illusion that mental illness can be magically fixed, so is this only the first step for Edgar?
Cinematographer Mike Berlucchi was a vital architect in building this harrowing episode, which sometimes looks more like The Hurt Locker than a show where the expression "Farts!” sometimes supplants expletives. He shifts the focus on Edgar, blurring his face, or shoots him through a fence, against the sunlight, sideways through a shaking handicam while he drives.
"It was a prior decision of [ours] to shoot the episode hand-held, which we rarely do," Falk elaborated. "We employed a lot of shooting techniques to heighten scenes during which Edgar was at his most stressed. Our colorist Narbeh Tatoussian helped design the look of certain scenes to give them a contrast-y, washed out look in post."
Through Berlucchi's erratically focused and looming handicam, Edgar's friends start look like his enemies -- and indeed, right now, they might be.
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
