#two turkeys

Lovely! Considering that previous episodes with Jake’s dad in them have been consistently among the absolute worst on this show, I did NOT have high hopes, but this actually worked really nicely. The antagonism between the two families never became so unbearable that it stopped being funny (a very tough balance), and the happy ending managed to feel pleasantly well-earned. Crucial to that I think is the fact that the parents never stooped to insulting one another’s children or implying that their union should not take place (the kind of direction one might have feared this would go), and even though Jake and Amy had their own disagreements, it never reflected poorly on their relationship. Basically, there was no seriously-nasty hard to forgive bullshit, so - despite the antagonism - the episode never slipped too far from the feel-good centre that this show occupies when it’s at its best. A solid win.