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Expect a big story for Chris Geere's Jimmy in the upcoming season of Stephen Falk's FXX comedy.
FXX's You're the Worst is going to build on its critically praised sophomore season as it continues to explore the inner-workings of its damaged cast of characters.
You're the Worst, created by Falk, centers on two horrible individuals who find love in one another. Season two explored clinical depression with Aya Cash's Gretchen character and ended with an unlikely confession of "love" from a drunken Jimmy (Chris Geere).
Season three will find Gretchen begin therapy. Orange Is the New Black favorite Samira Wiley will play Gretchen's therapist, reuniting with showrunner Falk whose credits include the Jenji Kohan Netflix dramedy. Season three will pick up immediately after the finale in which Gretchen returns Jimmy's drunken.
Season three will feature what Falk said would be the show's final "Sunday Funday"-themed episode called "The Last Sunday Funday," which he said will acknowledge how commercial the weekly ritual has become with a series of marketing promotions and t-shirts. "The characters realize Sunday Funday has been co-opted by the general public … and thus are vaguely ashamed of it — as are we," Falk said, noting the episode would feature a scavenger hunt. "We are embracing all of that and doing it — but for the last time."
Here are a few other things to know about season three:
• There will be more sex. After exploring Gretchen's depression in season two, Falk thought it was important to show that Gretchen and Jimmy were still hot for each other. To that point, the season three premiere opens with a very NSFW sex scene between the couple. "We got away from it because I didn't want to be a show about titillation; it's important after a dark season two to reset them and show that they're still hot for each other and came out of the season fairly in tact — at least carnally."
• Edgar's (Desmin Borges) PTSD will come front and center again. Season two featured Edgar finding himself — with improv comedy leading him to girlfriend Dorothy. Seaosn three will see Edgar's PTSD come front and center again in a new way. "A lot of last season was about him finally taking the plunge into attempting to transition to civilianhood," Borges said. "This season is really all about taking ownership for who you are and how you want the next phase of your life to be." That said, Edgar will find a way to balance what his friends and the V.A. tell him to do and "bully" him. "I think he's going to say, 'Stop that shit; I'm a person, you need to listen to me and I'm going to find the best plan of action to move forward,'" Borges said.
• Jimmy and Gretchen will both explore what love means. After the big finale love bomb, season three will build on that and explore how couples express love. "Couples create their own language and own way to define things outside of what society says," Cash said after recalling a story in which she prompted her husband to profess his love for her. "A word like 'love' is very loaded; [season three] is them redefining what that word means to them and how to express it." Added Geere: "They feel everything the average couple will feel, just not in the same order. They take the hard road the whole time, which is fun to play and that's why people can relate to them as well. It's never as plain as saying it as romantic comedies have brainwashed us into thinking it is."
• Lindsay's dark side will be explored. Yes, she's pregnant via her anger/drunken turkey baster experience with Paul's baby but don't expect Lindsay (Kether Donohue) to be a happy mom-to-be now that she's reunited with Paul (Alan McLeod). "I think Lindsay has a lot of inner-rage that is not properly placed — and it comes out impulsively, particularly with Paul," she said. Expect a scene early in season two to surprise viewers as Lindsay seems to hit her tipping point. "Lindsay should absolutely not have a baby," Falk said. "I worry for any baby born into the world of You're the Worst because being a parent is about giving — but these characters are not very giving. Paul and Lindsay represent the dark side of trying to make a relationship work past its expiration date and for the wrong reasons. … For this reason, it tends to be more about competition with her sister and to live up to her mother's high expectations. They, like all our characters, are a dark version of relationships."
• Jimmy will be forced to explore his feelings. Geere described his character as a robot who is "blissfully unaware of his own feelings or who he is." An event (which we won't spoil here) will prompt Jimmy to explore his feelings in season three. Said Falk: "Something very universal happens to him … but the way he deals with it isn't; but mixed feelings about that are."
• Ben Folds will guest star. Gretchen, who works as ma music publicist, will cross paths with Folds during an upcoming episode in which he plays a very twisted version of himself.
• A commitment to portraying depression will continue. The trailer shown to press at Tuesday's Television Critics Association summer press tour featured Gretchen and Jimmy hilariously in therapy with Wiley's character. Falk said he felt a responsibility as an artist to shining a light on serious subjects. "It's what we should be doing," he said, noting that You're the Worst won an award from a mental health foundation about depression's portrayal in media. "We were able to do that and touch some people and that was really nice but I also think it's kind of our responsibility."
You're the Worst season three returns Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 10 p.m. on FXX.
You're the Worst TCA | Television Critics Association
