“It’s fine, I’ll be in a couple with you.” The words that (hopefully) no mother wants to hear from her son are foisted upon Alex less than halfway into this week’s Youth. In Ruairi’s defense—and the show’s, and Alex’s—that offer is specifically about playing the game Head’s Up with their pals while in Ibiza (say it with the cast, “Ee-bee-thah”), and it’s part of an otherwise lovely moment between mother and son. Ruairi, seeing that Alex is preparing to flee after less than a day because she’s realized just how awkward it is to be on a couples’ holiday with her son, encourages her to get out of her head for a while and have fun. Remarkably, she takes his advice. The retreat still ends with a visit to the emergency room, but on just about every front, it’s a more successful trip than the last one.
As “The Holiday” gets underway, Alex and Ruairi drag themselves and their roller bags up the fancy path to an even fancier vacation rental, where Frank and Sam are hosting their 10th anniversary celebration. The weekend is not off to the most auspicious start: Alex originally thought she’d be accompanied by her partner-in-a-sexless-relationship Michael, but he recently ended things. It wouldn’t have been her ideal scenario, but she probably thought he’d cook and let her take up space in his suitcase. Then, in quick succession, Alex learns that she has to share the guest house with Ruairi—even though she hoped to be on the pull—and that Cara and Patrick are the fourth couple on this getaway. This info dump is accompanied by the sounds of Lorcan and Theresa’s “lovemaking.” You can see why Alex would want to get out of there immediately, even if it means boarding another 5:45 a.m. flight on Ryanair. (The Irish airline, she contends, is supposed to be a blight on the English: “It’s how we get our revenge on them for war and famine and Russell Brand.”)
Lunch in town does little to perk Alex up, though she does get a tantalizing glimpse of what life would be like if she were less frazzled by it. While trying to figure out how to eat as a singleton during a meal that seems designed for couples, she looks across the restaurant at a beautiful Spanish woman who is, like Alex, in her 50s, but, unlike Alex, is thoroughly enjoying herself. Alex continues to run into this woman throughout the weekend, eventually working up the nerve to approach her, which goes poorly, to say the least. Her compliments are lost in translation, and at one point she pees herself (which is triggered by choking on the smoke from her vacation cigarettes), but each mortifying incident is liberating in its own way. I actually missed Alex’s “accident” on my first watch of “The Holiday,” so when she showed up back at the villa in a sexy red jumpsuit, I thought she’d just decided to treat herself. Knowing she required a wardrobe change makes the scene funnier without taking away any of the joy of it. She could have slunk away, having urinated a bit on the streets of this Balearic paradise—instead she bought a great new outfit and tomatoes.
Would Alex have recovered that well if Ruairi hadn’t given her a little pep talk the previous night? Maybe, but their little heart-to-heart marks a turning point for the weekend, and for the show. Where previous episodes struggled a bit to balance all of the show’s elements, “The Holiday” bounds between storylines with gusto, giving each character greater dimension—, even Theresa, who’d just been the new woman in Lorcan’s life until now. None of the romantic pairings are quite what they seem—Sam’s libido might be waning, and Cara and Theresa struggle to keep their partners’ attention—but Ruairi and Alex’s relationship is healthier than ever. Now they’re talking and listening to each other, and revealing just how close they’ve always been.
Alex and Ruairi do pair up for Head’s Up and they absolutely destroy the competition, including Lorcan, who grows increasingly resentful—and therefore nasty—as he sees just how well Ruairi gets along with Alex. She isn’t just Ruairi’s mom, she’s his friend. (Ruairi would probably never call her “cool,” but he also doesn’t seem impressed by his dad being an actor.) It doesn’t occur to the newly blond dope that he could have a similar bond with his son if he just made an effort; he accuses Alex of poisoning Ruairi against him instead. Lorcan won’t acknowledge that the reason Alex knows how Ruairi likes to cook his rice or has inside jokes with him is because she actually spends time with the boy—more importantly, wants to spend time with him. Alex has been trying to get back to her own wants all season, but she knows she’s still a mom. Lorcan seems to think his obligation to his son has all but ended, which explains why he behaves more like an uncle who rarely visits or a third-string family friend.
For the first time, Ruairi openly acknowledges this, and that’s before he takes the MDMA gifted to him by a Spanish girl during a lads’ night out. Having a selfish, immature dad is bad enough, but Ruairi admits he’s worried he’ll end up like Lorcan. It’s telling that Ruairi opens up to Patrick about this—maybe the latter isn’t as much of a man-child as Alex (or even Patrick himself) thinks he is. Patrick assures Ruairi that having such an “ace” mom cancels out having a wanker for a dad, which somewhat makes up for the fact that Ruairi takes drugs from a stranger on his watch.
Eventually, everyone’s back at the villa except Cara, who fled to the club after a drunk Theresa tried to kiss her (or maybe she’s just tired of being around people older than her). Lorcan blows up at Alex, but Patrick is by her side, not Cara’s, and he takes her mind off things. When Cara returns from her night out, Alex realizes that Patrick was basically ignoring his sorta-girlfriend’s texts to watch the sunrise with her. This, combined with learning that Cara invited herself on the trip, brings a smile to her face. Frank and Sam’s celebration is cut short by the former’s heart attack—which he survives, so don’t worry about losing Robbie Gee—but “The Holiday” ends with Patrick admitting he still has feelings for Alex. His confession might be the result of the brush with death; he even says life’s too short to walk around with regrets. But when he tells Alex he misses her and she responds by saying he’s said that before, he says something’s changed: “This time it hurts.” Alex’s smiles became plentiful after she took Ruairi’s advice to just have fun, but the one that spreads across her face upon hearing she and Patrick still have a chance—and as a screaming man is wheeled past her on a gurney—is one of pure pleasure. The rest of Alex’s hangups about him haven’t just vanished, but Patrick’s definitely forgiven for Ruairi’s MDMA trip.
Stray observations
- • Dawn Shadforth handled directing duties for the first half of the season, but Sharon Horgan’s Catastrophe collaborator Jim O’Hanlon handled the back half, starting with “The Holiday.” A great reunion!
- • How nice to see Ruairi have some fun, and for Aran Murphy to get to play so many different registers in one episode. It would have been easy for him to overdo the MDMA trip or even the admission to Patrick, but he never loses sight of the character he’s been building.
- • Frank’s heart attack seems as brought on by his indulgence in certain substances as Sam’s insecurities. He describes her incessant texting as an “act of terror,” which is a bit much, but it’s not clear what he’s done, beyond employing attractive women, to provoke such jealousy from Sam. I hope we learn more about their relationship as the show goes on, and not just because Robbie Gee is so good at playing the bon vivant.
- • I’ve been thinking about my last recap, and the idea of the show trying to take on too much or be overly ambitious, which is something that can come across as faint praise. I don’t intend it to be! Comedies take longer to find their rhythm, and if this were a 22-episode show, hitting its stride in the fifth episode would be par for the course. If Youth‘s taken a bit longer to find itself, that’s mostly in comparison to Horgan’s previous work. Her batting average is still exceptional. I did briefly think to diverge into a whole discussion about big, messy swings and who’s allowed them, but that would diminish how strong Youth came out of the gate.
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