‘Broad City’ Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: “Knockoffs”

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It is fair to say that “Knockoffs” is not only the best episode of Broad City Season 2 so far but it’s one of the best that the series has ever released. From a visit from Ilana’s mother (a perfectly cast Susie Essman, Curb Your Enthusiasm) to Abbi’s foray into the sexual word of pegging, “Knockoffs” starts off high and keeps reaching impressive new comedic heights as the momentum — and seemingly the girls themselves — never slows down for a single second.

The big event happening in “Knockoff” is that, as a result of Abbi’s druggy phone calls last week, she is finally going on a date with Jeremy — or, as Ilana puts it, finally going to “vagina swallow” him. Abbi and Jeremy hang out in his apartment and all is going well, so well that they eventually end up in bed together. But this just means that there has to be some twist involving the sex-about-to-happen. There is, and it is glorious. When Abbi asks if he wants to switch it up, meaning positions, he takes it to mean really switch it up and whips out a green, strap-on dildo and quickly gets on all fours, leaving Abbi surprised and confused.

She quickly calls Ilana for advice — what are best friends for? — who begins by giving Abbi on advice on how to use the strap-on, rather than if she should; after all, Ilana’s been preparing for this so much that she used to sleep with a strap-on on in college, just trying to get herself in the position that Abbi accidentally stumbled upon. After some nudging, she convinces Abbi to go for it. I mean, no one wants to die with regrets, right? Abbi and Jeremy get down and both wake up blissfully happy the next morning — especially Abbi, who gets to spend the day in his beautiful, spacious, and empty apartment. She even tidies up some, running the dildo through the dishwasher and, of course, effectively ruining it for good.

Throughout all of this, Ilana is spending the day with her mother Bobbi who is basically the adult (and I use the term “adult” loosely here) version of her daughter. Sometimes, when you meet someone’s parents for the first time, you begin to immediately realize why they are the way they are. With Ilana, it’s clear that she is a clone of her mother, from her mannerisms to her sex-positivity (“Don’t forget to wear a condom!” is her version of saying “Goodbye”) to the hustlin’ that Ilana is so known for her — bringing her own nail polish to the manicurist, talking her way into the better knockoffs in Chinatown, and so on. Bobbi even shares Ilana’s fondness for Abbi’s butt (“Look at that gorgeous tush,” she remarks as the Wexler women watch Abbi walk away). The Wexlers go on a mini-adventure in Chinatown as they are blindfolded (by their own blindfolds of course; can’t risk getting pink eye again) and driven around by a stranger in a van in order to find good quality knockoff purses.

It culminates in the reason that Bobbi is in town: sitting shiva for Ilana’s grandmother (who was a total badass and thus helped inspire Abbi to peg Jeremy in the first place). Rounding out the Wexlers is Ilana’s father (Bob Balaban) and her brother (played by her real life brother Eliot Glazer). They are all amazingly candid with each other, all open and just as sex-positive as Ilana as they stand in a circle with Abbi discussing her night with Jeremy and the finer intricacies of having sex with a man while wearing a strap-on dildo.

But back to Abbi: She goes to a sex store to buy a replacement dildo from an employee who spots her stuttering and immediately pegs (no pun intended) that she mangled a dildo in a dishwasher and needs a new one. She picks an identical one and returns back to Jeremy, ready for round two. But Jeremy immediately realizes it’s an imposter dildo. See, his was custom made for his body out of all-natural materials; it’s basically the organic, kale version of a dildo. The two get into an argument that’s only made funnier by the fact that Abbi wears the strap-on the entire time.

“Knockoffs” may end on a disappointing note for Abbi/Jeremy shippers (they have to be out there, right?) but it ends on the right note in every other way as Abbi and Ilana lay in Abbi’s bed, joking around, as they do at the end of every eventful day. Who needs Jeremy when Abbi has Ilana?