Cute Overload Friday

Posted by Maggie September 19th, 2008 at 10:48am In Greek

Have you been watching Greek? I certainly hope so, because it’s one of the best shows around. If you haven’t, I recommend following this protocol immediately:

1. Rent or buy (only $20!*) the first season.
2. Watch it immediately.

Update your protocols, people. Then come back to me when you’ve finished.

This season has done an excellent job with a couple of very tricky things, namely:

1. Making us believe that even though Cappie is so much fun and sweet and smart, he may still be a pretty shitty boyfriend/mentor to Rebecca/Rusty, respectively.
2. Getting us to care about Rebecca, and to a lesser extent, Franny. (Though now that Franny and Evan have formed an evil league of evil they’re off the radar — I assume until they concoct a hugely evil scheme to end the season.)
3. Consistently feeling like actual college, even for those of us who didn’t have a Greek system.
4. Staying hilarious.
5. Introducing a great new love interest for Casey, the sensitive nerd Max.

That last point is huge. I didn’t think they’d be able to cast someone able to overtake the appeal of Cappie, but Max nails it. (And I just discovered he was Costas in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Apparently if you change your hair and drop your fake accent I am incapable of recognizing you — I would be a terrible spy.) He’s charmingly off-center, never saying just what he should or what you might expect, which keeps Casey off-center, too. His kookiness masked his Sad Secret for a while, allowing us to get used to him without immediately suspecting Something’s Wrong.

Max is my new TV Boyfriend. It’s refreshing to have a TV Boyfriend who isn’t a total jerk because of his pain — Max is just troubled and smart and interesting. He’s totally unlike Evan or Cappie or even Rusty, making him a strange and surprising addition to the Greek family.

Have I gushed enough? Will you watch it? I know you most likely won’t, but you’re missing out. Don’t waste your time with the boring 90210 and the cheesily written Fringe! Come to Greek, where the plots are peppy, the boys are sensitive, and there’s always lots of alcohol!

*I think that DVD is actually just the first HALF season. They seem to do little mini seasons in 12-episode batches.