‘Grand Crew’ Recap: ‘Wine & Roasts’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

GRAND CREW -- "Wine & Roasts" Episode 206 -- Pictured: (l-r) Carl Tart as Sherm, Nicole Byer as Nicky, Justin Cunningham as Wyatt, Echo Kellum as Noah -- (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 206 of ‘Grand Crew. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Ask anyone if they believe they are great with communication, and you’ll receive a resounding ‘yes’ as your answer. Simply because… so many of us believe that we are in fact, excellent communicators. Who always get our message across with our skills. But sadly, the reality of the matter… is that we tend to have an inflated perception of our abilities as a communicator. Because sometimes what comes out, is incomplete, despite the fact that the message was sound in our heads. Not to mention, sometimes we simply don’t know how to communicate with a particular person. Which then begs some questions… how do we find out if we are effectively communicating and how do we improve? Well, it just so happens that the next episode of Grand Crew on NBC explores the answers to those questions.
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A feat that ‘Wine & Roasts’ accomplished, by way of three key storylines. One of which, involved Wyatt and Sherm. Simply because Sherm came to learn that Wyatt stunk at roasting people. So, Sherm took Wyatt under his wing and taught him how to do so. Because every man should know how to roast. A move that seemed to be the right one at first until Wyatt took it too far, and ripped on people instead of just gently ribbing them, and that prompted Sherm to step in and teach him how to read the room and read reactions and know when to reel it in. All of which taught us that sometimes, we need a good friend to recognize our communication shortcomings to improve upon such matters. One that knows how to call us to the carpet in a respectful manner, so we properly learn and grow.

As for Noah, well he came to learn about the importance of being a good listener when it comes to being a great communicator and the importance of building upon the clues people sometimes send our way since everyone communicates differently. Which he learned, through an angry battle of wills. Courtesy of a customer he thought was just rotten to the core since she continually review-bombed his shop. Which prompted him to get back at her by getting her fired, only to learn… before she destroyed his shop… that she was trying to tell him something deeper. Such as how to improve his business. But since he didn’t listen or look at those cues, he missed that message. But thankfully, he fixed that on the fly and got some great ideas and a new employee in his tormentor. All because he took the time to listen.

Yet while those lessons were enriching in their own right, the most important lesson of all when it comes to communication, came forth via Nicky’s journey here. Since she was dating a man that she wanted to know more about, and she was able to discover that the best way to make that happen, was to listen to him sleep. Because he talked in his sleep, and offered clues to his likes, and she used that to her advantage to appear to be the perfect lover, and she ‘talked’ in her sleep to get the same in kind. A plan that eventually backfired simply because… it was silly. Silly to not just do the most basic thing of all… and ask the man what he wanted and express what she wanted in life and that is indeed the greatest communication lesson of all… just be honest.

But of course, the best part about these lessons… is that they were handled in a hilarious manner. Because watching Wyatt struggle as a roastmaster, then excel and then horrify, was the stuff of legend. As was watching Noah just downward spiral over bad reviews and relish in a taste of darkness by getting his rival fired from her job, before hiring her… and of course… Nicky’s story was just wildly funny. Courtesy of that spanking request that put an end to the whole thing and of course… the side story with poor Anthony and his hair? Just amazing. Which means, this was another incredible episode from an already incredible series. One that once again handled its exploration of life in a brilliant manner, to the point where the wait for next Friday’s episode is going to be quite painful. Because season two of this series is just stellar and we simply need more of everything it has to offer. Until next time.

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