‘Avenue 5’ Recap: ‘Was It Your Ears?’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

For the most part, television episodes like to operate within the framework of a theme, and understandably so. Because doing so gives the audience something to chew upon while they watch and something to discuss after said episode has come to an end, and it also benefits the characters as well. For it aids in their growth and development since it gives them something specific to deal with and work toward as the episode rolls along. But some shows, well they don’t follow this rule in the slightest and that’s not a bad thing by any means. For if the series is designed to embrace the wonder of chaos, then it can pull off tales filled with disarray no problem, and it just happens that Avenue 5 is a show that meets that criteria.
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Because nothing ever quite goes right on this show and there’s good reason for that. Because outside of the engineering staff, everyone aboard this vessel is a mess in every way imaginable. To the point where an innocent everyday man almost found himself tossed out of an airlock during the last episode. But while that would normally serve as a wake-up call that things need to get better and everyone needs to come together, there was simply more chaos to be found in the next episode of this magnificent series. For ‘Was It Your Ears?’ focused upon an identity crisis for Judd, one that came to fruition for all the wrong reasons, while a potentially fatal problem began to manifest itself aboard the ship and that led to more hilariously frustrating moments. 

For the identity crisis in question, wasn’t generated out of Judd’s outlandish actions at the party. He didn’t care about that. Instead, it was all about the fact that his ship was host to the first baby born in space and he really couldn’t handle how much the passengers admired the baby, over him. Yes. You read that right, Judd was jealous of a baby and that prompted him to try and create a new look and a new attitude, one that would resonate with the people of the ship so they would finally love him. Plus, he also figured that a gimmick might help move that along, which prompted him to prepare a laser light show that would brighten up the poo ring around the vessel and once people knew he was behind this gift of beauty, they would speak and think quite highly of him.

Which most certainly made for some delightfully comical moments, since Judd cannot be anyone other than Judd, despite Matt’s best efforts to shape him into a new man. And while he tried to reinvent himself, an unexpectedly haunting symphony garnered attention aboard the ship. For a strange beeping noise was going off constantly in the background, the kind akin to a fire detector with a dying battery and it produced a similar result, since people could no longer sleep with this hideous thing going off. But what made this surprise so chaotic and unsettling, is the sheer fact that it looked as though it was informing the crew of a massive oxygen leak, one that prompted everyone to limit their motions and their speech in a desperate gambit to preserve precious air.

Something that led to more tension and fights, before it was thankfully revealed that the beep was nothing more than a reminder to recalibrate the ship with a new passenger on board. Once again demonstrating that the people aboard this vessel are quick to react to just about everything in a panicked manner and while this behavior leaves you shaking your head, it also leaves you wiping tears from your eyes. Because everything that happened here was just a hilarious treat to experience, the kind that definitely keeps you coming back for more. Since you’re dying to know what other silly decisions the people aboard this ship are going to make, and one has to wonder if they are ever going to care about or pay attention to the fact that Rav got the White House to approve their rescue. Until next time.

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