“Cuckoo Chicks” begins with a compelling flashback that explores Camila’s relationship with Nicky, which becomes relevant in the present when Althea invites Mabel to a Ladies’ night hosted by Camila. Loretta, Detective Williams, Lorraine, and Mabel infiltrate the casino in order to get a confession out of Camila. Left behind, Charles and Oliver spend the night trying to prevent people from selling their apartments to Camila. The bulk of their story occurs with Dr. Stanley, as they get a hilarious therapy session. As the plan in the casino falls apart, Mabel bonds with Lorraine, Detective Williams joins the makeshift therapy session, and Loretta obtains information from Camila by posing as a psychic medium. Unfortunately, Oliver and Charles convince Dr. Stanley to retract his sale too late, and all seems lost until Loretta reveals that Camila and Nicky had feelings for each other and plan to turn the Arconia into a casino. Loretta also found Lester’s bloody elevator crank in Nicky’s office, and Lorraine discovers that a bird whistle camera shows Randall, the new doorman, retrieving said crank when Lester died.
Despite separating the main trio, this episode was entertaining and offered interesting insight into the show’s supporting cast. Notably, the decision to center the main mystery around Loretta was a compelling choice. While it diminished the importance of the main trio, it effectively supported the episode’s theme, highlighting the value of these peripheral characters. Mabel’s relationship with Lorraine was heartfelt and resulted in a very sweet moment where Mabel talks about her feelings for Jay. While the character highlight was certainly the women’s plotline, the comedic highlight was the spontaneous therapy session. Of course, the casino plotline had many solid comedic bits, and the therapy session had great character moments, but Charles and Oliver’s brief therapeutic scenes blended the serious and silly elements more evenly. The most exciting aspect of the episode was the dynamic between the women at the casino. Despite being short-lived, they bounced off each other quite well, and the episode likely could have gotten more comedic mileage from their interactions.
Simultaneously, the weakest and one of the strongest aspects of the episode were the flashback sequences surrounding Camilla and Nicky. The information they uncovered raised the stakes and enhanced the mystery of the season, and having Loretta acquire the information was a good choice. However, there could have been more creative ways to deliver this exposition rather than resorting to flashbacks. While it was still engaging, embracing a subjectivity of Camila’s story by not explicitly flashing back could have been more interesting. Still, the use of the almost-hypnotic cocktail shaker was clever, and the plot points themselves were great. Similarly, the episode’s final reveal was genuinely surprising. Overall, this episode’s greatest strength was its utilization of side characters, but there could have been more comedy and character moments squeezed out of the main trio.
Rating: 7/10