Cougar Town Season 5, Episode 12 “Love Is A Long Road”
Written by Mary Fitzgerald
Directed by Michael McDonald
Season finale airs Tuesday, April 1st at 10pm ET on TBS
I’ve said it numerous times before in Cougar Town reviews, but it holds true once again with “Love Is A Long Road”; the presence of Chick always adds emotional levity to episodes, even to stories he has nothing to do with. Following the events of “Refugee”, it would be easy to expect “Love Is A Long Road” to be a very serious episode of Cougar Town focused on Chick’s growing Alzheimer’s – instead, we get a light-hearted episode about old man farts, Ellie’s insecurities, and Bobby’s always-unorthodox approach to being a good father, all centered around Travis’s upcoming graduation.
Except that it is kind of a serious episode of the show: with no word on a sixth season as of yet, there’s no denying some added weight to the cathartic conclusions of “Love Is A Long Road”. Inspired by the darkest realities of Chick’s condition (losing and confusing memories), “Long Road” is openly nostalgic, remembering past events and relationships, reflecting on the way things were, and the way things are now. The most obvious of these is Bobby’s attempt to one-up the 70-foot blue gorilla him and Andy made for Travis back in season one’s “Breakdown”; in the light of facing the harsh realities of his present in the last few weeks (Chick reminding him of his breakup with Jules, Travis graduating, losing his boat and realizing his life was contained in a boat, etc.), but it’s also a major facet of Ellie’s jealousy towards Laurie, which stems from Laurie’s new proximity to Jules since she’s dating Travis (which most people refer to as “sleeping with” in this episode, which is a bit odd… but I digress).
Throughout Cougar Town‘s up-and-down fifth season, a lot of this pathos has been missing, replaced by simplistic hijinks, episode-long pop culture homages (or in the case of Tom’s mini Cul-de-Sac, season-long meta jokes), and a casual ignorance of the show’s most interesting narrative possibilities. There are times where “Long Road” suffers from this – noticeably from Travis’s college graduation, a thoroughly empty event that serves more purpose in Bobby’s story than anywhere else – but in all fairness, the episode isn’t really trying to do anything with that, disinterested in Travis’s college journey since Sarah Chalke’s guest run back in season two.
If anything, Travis’s college experience has been a catalyst for other character’s stories, which it does again in “Long Road” – and quite successfully, as seen in the effectiveness of the episode’s last few minutes. Using Ellie’s insecurity (rather than her constant rage) makes for a much more enjoyable resolution with Laurie, and clears the path for a series of cathartic moments, led by Chick and Jules reaffirming their love for each other and Bobby managing to one-up his high school graduation present for Travis (with the help of Andy, of course). And it’s all thanks to the old man sitting next to Grayson, a man trying not to forget the past while everything around him in the present changes and becomes unknown, continuing his long streak as the emotional center of Cougar Town‘s best episodes the last two seasons. Like Chick, Cougar Town‘s future is unclear right now: and with “Love Is A Long Road”, I’m glad they took the time to pause and reflect for a moment, in a season largely unconcerned with these larger, more existential leanings.
— Randy