Privileged Gets Its Groove Back

Though still plagued with problems of a frustrating nature, Privileged has somehow managed to find its way back to a place where it's one of my must-watches of the week. There was a period there in the middle when all it did was make me mad but after this week's episode I can proudly say that I am pro-Privileged once again. 

The main thing that got me back on board? The same thing that pushed me off: Charlie. Originally one of my favourite character, Charlie was everything I like in a supporting male character. So when he was relegated to jerk status I was very mad. I couldn't understand how a character with so much potential all of a sudden goes off the deep end of insufficiently motivated selfishness. After the revelation that he was in love with Megan, Charlie's actions were so far off the mark that he became my main reason for not liking the show. But in the past few weeks Charlie's gotten back on track and in this episode he proved that he was capable of being Megan's best friend again. 

What made this episode really interesting was the Megan/Charlie/Will/Mandy dynamic. How each of the other 3 characters reacted to Megan's parental predicament revealed a ton of character. Mandy was straight to the point, simple yet sympathetic. Charlie was sensitive and comforting, showing how well he really does know Megan. Will was problematically unfamiliar with how to deal with Megan and her problems. This, of course, led to some serious conflict between Will and Charlie. Charlie was in the right, let's just get that out there right away. But I love Will and completely understand where his jealousy came from; in fact, his reaction to really seeing how much Megan leans on Charlie felt very honest. But true props have to be given to Mandy, Charlie's girlfriend and a completely under-appreciated character. Mandy is consistently understanding while always calling Charlie on his crap. She speaks up when she's uncomfortable but is also truly gracious when it comes to letting Megan and Charlie be the friends they've always been. It would be so easy for her to step in and throw out an ultimatum on how close Charlie and Megan are but Mandy is secure enough to not only deal with their dynamic but actually support it and give it the space it needs. The girl is a God send and if Charlie screws that up I'll be pretty pissed at him again. 

And while I hated the storyline about Megan's family (could her mother BE more annoying? Talk about the complete opposite of her father), I loved both Rose AND Sage this week (obviously, particularly Rose). I was glad to see that hilariously deadpan butler get some screen time too. And a lack of Laurel is always a plus.