Getting Better All the Time

Perfect Couples started out a little shaky. It was sort of predictable, easy, a little old fashioned and trying too hard to be quirky. But as the first season has continued it’s gotten better each week. This week’s episode was laugh out loud funny for the first time. From Rex’s epic winning tour that was heartbreakingly broken by Vance in a single game of hilariously small pool, to Leigh’s supportive (read: intimidating) wifing skills helping Amy in her new job, to Dave’s annoying tendency to steal new friends away from his wife, Perfect Couples was on this week. Almost all of the characters have finally grown on me; I’m particularly fond of the overly “perfect” Rex and Leigh. The key to the show is in the juxtaposition of the friends at its centre- the normal guy-ness of Kyle Bornheimer’s Dave (who is at once a schlub and a social genius); the dry humour behind David Walton’s zany Vance; the delight of Hayes MacArthur’s masochistically positive Rex, not to mention the women who complement them and foil each other. Particularly hilarious is Olivia Munn’s Leigh, whose nightly inspirational email message to Rex and Amy was a highlight of this week’s excellent episode. Perfect Couples is the best argument since Raising Hope for sticking with a show, because sometimes they can sort themselves into something so much better than the pilot.