The premise of this episode might just be the most uncomfortable of the series.

Be warned: spoilers ahead.

The episode opens in a bowling alley where Joanne, the Roklov brothers, and Esther are sitting in a booth. Esther appears with hair bangs in the opening shot of the episode, and Joanne is quick to compliment them. Noah tells Joanne that he booked his first gig as a rabbi post his departure from Temple Chai. He booked a brit bat, which is the traditional Jewish naming ceremony for newborn girls. He’s been hired by Abby Kaplan, who just so happens to be Joanne’s middle school nemesis. Abby supposedly cut Joanne’s doll’s hair and never admitted it- a sin that Joanne has yet to forgive. Joanne asks to join Noah to support him and learn more about the Jewish faith. She promises not to confront Abby Kaplan about their past. Despite their past, Noah agrees to allow Joanne to come to Abby’s brit bat. Why would he allow this? Who knows? Inviting your girlfriend to your new job, especially when your girlfriend hates your new boss, seems like a bad idea. Still, it makes for great television. Joanne confronts Esther about why she got bangs. Esther admits that she thinks she’s pregnant and doesn’t want to tell Sasha. Then, the credits roll.

Now, Abby Kaplan is a social media influencer, so there’s plenty of online fodder for Joanne and Morgan to make fun of and obsess over before the brit bat. Joanne quickly becomes jealous of Abby’s put-together life and starts fantasizing about her future with Noah. Morgan pulls her back to reality, asking whether she and he ever talked about their future together or kids, and Abby realizes it’s a conversation she and Noah have yet to have.

At the brit bat, Abby greets Joanne like an old friend, embracing her. While the two cordially butt heads, Joanne keeps Noah’s promise and remains on her best behavior at the client’s house. Abby invites Morgan to the brit bat after seeing Joanne. More hilarious antics ensue as we learn about Abby’s husband, Gabe, and Abby’s daughter, Afternoon. Morgan arrives to create more chaos on behalf of Joanne, showing up in a scantily clad dress, similar to the one she wore to the dinner party on the first episode of this season. Morgan greets Abby and confronts her about the doll, but Abby says that she has no idea what Morgan is talking about.

Meanwhile, at Esther and Sasha’s home, Esther gets a pregnancy test back negative —a massive relief. She decides it’s time to tell Sasha she doesn’t want any more children. While Sasha is upset, he’s ultimately understanding.

The brit bat goes smoothly, and Noah delivers a beautiful speech about Afternoon’s Hebrew name, Aliza. This speech impresses the crowd and Joanne, inspiring her to stop trying to get revenge or closure on Abby. Joanne and Morgan sneak off upstairs where they’re overheard trash talking by Abby. Abby confronts the sisters, saying that yes, she cut the doll’s hair, but had completely forgotten about it until Morgan mentioned it earlier that day. She apologizes and says that it sucks they hate her because she’s a huge fan of their podcast. This exchange leaves Joanne feeling guilty about their revenge attempts and redeems Abby in the viewer’s eyes.

While this is going on, Noah is talking to Gabe about the brit bat. Gabe thanks him and says their temple is looking for a new rabbi. Gabe wants to recommend Noah for the position. Thrilled at the opportunity, Noah thanks Gabe. Joanne comes back to rejoin Noah for an end-of-episode debrief. Joanne tells Noah that she wants to start taking their relationship seriously, and maybe even get couples’ stationary. Then, the episode ends.

How Noah thought that inviting his girlfriend to her archenemy’s brit bat would be a good idea is beyond us. There is no world in which that goes well. This episode, however, went as well as it possibly could given the circumstances. This episode felt like a much-needed turn of luck for Noah, as he’s been put through the ringer in the past few. Something about this show that doesn’t get enough credit is its soundtrack. From Rihanna to Chappel Roan to Taylor Swift, the show features an all-star list of artists. This episode was no different. There’s an argument to be made that this show has the best soundtrack on television right now, a title previously held by The Summer I Turned Pretty. 

Timothy Simons and Jackie Tohn, though they’ve been the c-storyline for much of this season, deliver hilarious and heartfelt performances. Since Veep, Simons has not delivered a more earnest performance, and Jackie Tohn plays a perfect foil to Kristen Bell in scenes with Tovah Feldshuh. This point in the season is usually when shows like this start to slow down, but one of the perks of the streaming era is that television can cut out a lot of fat. A 10-episode run leaves little time for filler, especially with 30-minute episodes, so only the funniest and most plot-driven aspects remain.

Rating: 8/10