- Title: The Crazy Ones – Bad Dad
- IMDB: link
The test group data for an Allstate commercial based on Sydney’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) real-life driving experiences with her father reveals Simon’s (Robin Williams) unusual parenting habits have at times left his daughter traumatized. Upset by both the fact that others viewed the father in the commercial as a bad dad and the fact that his daughter has never learned to properly drive a car, Simon decides to rectify the situation by offering Sydney a far calmer driving lesson.
The episode’s B-story centers on the office realization that Andrew (Hamish Linklater) is Zach’s (James Wolk) remora, living off his his friend’s leftovers (including everything from half-finished food to dating women his friend has recently dumped). Lauren’s (Amanda Setton) realization that everyone is someone else’s remora allows him to stop fighting his nature and return to life as normal.
“Bad Dad’ offers a pretty strong example of why the show’s zaniness is both its greatest strength and weakness. Eventually Sydney realizes her father’s unorthodox (and at times even criminal) parenting techniques helped her grow into the woman she is. Together they decide to stick with the unorthodox campaign (which I seriously doubt would lead to any new insurance sales). Although we do get some enjoyable moments between the pair, the uber-hyped craziness is hard to take seriously, and once again the show’s over-reliance of improvisation leads to several detours that don’t always lead back to the intended destination.
