The penultimate episode of this much-improved third season is sadly its weakest. The idea of satirizing social networking sites is rich ground for comedy, but nothing is taken to any particularly original directions by writer Graham Linehan...Friendface is a Facebook-style website Jen (Katherine Parkinson) has become obsessed with. She makes quick converts of the discerning Roy (Chris O'Dowd) and Moss (Richard Ayoade) -- primarily be mentioning its online Scrabble facility and application for dating -- but things become complicated when Jen contacts an old friend called Deline (Claudia Harrison) and Roy meets a very clingy girl called Alison (Suzie Toase) through the site...
Jen is crushed to discover that Deline (and most of her other school friends) have become far more successful than her; a situation that forces Jen to lie about her social life and career achievements. After being invited to a big reunion party, Jen is forced to take Moss along to pose as her professional tennis player husband. In a lacklustre subplot, Roy's attempts to break up with the overemotional Alison (who he nicknames "The Joker" on account of how badly her make-up runs when she cries) hit a snag when it becomes clear how obsessed she is with him...
There were a few good ideas and moments here (like the advertising on the Friendface site influencing Roy into buying cans of "Cuke", or Moss' mum joining the site and updating her current mood as "sensual") and I always like to see Jen struggle with the insanity surrounding her. Unlike Roy and Moss (who are entrenched in their geeky world and content with their lives), Jen is more compelling as someone who wants to break out beyond the I.T basement and make it in the "real", mainstream world. For that reason, I just find her a more dramatically satisfying character.
Still, while Moss will always be the caricatured nerd played very broadly, it's nice to see Roy given a more rounded personality at times. There's a great scene here between him and Jen, where she gives him heartfelt advice over his to break-up with the needy Alison. No feed-lines, no surreal background gags, no silly punchline, no comedy interjection from Moss. For once, just a bit of realism that benefitted both characters and made them feel like close friends. A bit of maturity in the writing. More, please.
Overall, "Friendface" should have been a lot funnier given the subject-matter, but this was still a diverting half hour. A shame the final minutes were so choppy in their handling of each storyline's climax, which even the late introduction of Douglas (Matt Berry) in party-mode couldn't lift to any comic highs. It all kind of fizzled out in the end, but Jen's storyline was just about strong enough to see us through Roy's.
19 December 2008
Channel 4, 10.05pm
Writer & Director: Graham Linehan
Cast: Chris O'Dowd (Roy), Richard Ayoade (Moss), Katherine Parkinson (Jen), Matt Berry (Douglas), Claudia Harrison (Deline), Suzie Toase (Alison) & James Tovell (Terry)
