'Happy Endings' Parodies Rom-Com Movies With Some Unexpected Relationships

ABC's Happy Endings is a self-aware show. And the show knows how to make fun of itself, while making fun of its characters. In the winter return of the ABC comedy, "The Shrink, the Dare, her Date, and her Brother," some unexpected — and unwanted — relationships are formed.

Happy Endings starts off with a competition between Max (Adam Pally) and Jane (Eliza Coupe). This time they're competing over a sweater that clears the restaurant, forcing Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) to pay the bill all by himself. "You think this sweater is about you," Penny (Casey Wilson) sing-songs in parody of Carly Simon's "You're so Vain." In that vein, Penny says the winner will be declared by determining who is less vain. They'll pick out ugly, ridiculous outfits for each other. Whoever wears the outfit longer wins.

Except both go an entire day, Jane wearing high-waisted pants and a 70s outfit, Max dressed all in white, complete with a Princess Di shirt. And so they decide to call in the fire department, literally, because they both have a thing for firemen, and neither of them want to be dressed in their horrible outfits when they arrive. They end up pretty much naked and burning the sweater they fought over in the trash can.

But their storyline isn't what is so fabulous about Happy Endings "The Shrink, the Dare, her Date, and her Brother." Rather, it's Brad and Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) attempting to establish a friendship, just the two of them, since they are in-laws after all, and that's what Jane wants from them.

They struggle with finding anything in common — until they both show up at a romantic comedy movie alone. That's where an interesting dynamic is set up. As the bizarre, over-the-top rom com unfolds — like the girl setting her sleeve on fire — so too does the date between Penny and Dave's therapist Rick Rickman (Ken Marino).

Dave (Zachary Knighton) isn't happy with his friend Penny going out with his therapist, if only because Rick knows all his secrets. And so he attempts to stop their latest date, by showing up with Penny's therapist Dr. Roz Liebowitz (Faith Prince). In the movie, the guy was using the girl to prove a point — just as Dave is using the therapist.

But then each of the character's respective therapists try to tell them why they're so upset, Dave with Penny for going on a date, and Penny worried for Dave as he fights with Rick Rickman. Penny and Dave are not really platonic friends.

Well that's the way it would go if Happy Endings was really a typical rom-com. But it's not, even when Alex leaves the theater and declares, "I wish those things happened to me." Penny and Dave will never end up together, hopefully.

Because if the ABC comedy went the way of Penny and Dave together? Well, that just would not work. They don't have that kind of relationship. The show has long established them as just platonic friends, not even a hint of something more. It's Max and Penny, and their sometimes strangely affectionate relationship, that works. It's Brad and Jane, the sole married couple, who work because they're both ridiculous in their own ways. And, yes, it's even Dave and Alex, who despite their runaway bride past, still have something between them — even if it wasn't evident in Happy Endings "The Shrink, the dare, her date and her brother."

Does the ABC comedy have elements of rom com? Of course. But it's not going to ever have the expected storylines, or the characters all hooking up with each other. It's a smarter show than that.

What did you think of the return of the ABC comedy and Happy Endings' parody of rom-coms?