Croydon’s loveable dysfunctional duo, Mark Corrigan (David Mitchell) and Jeremy Osbourne (Robert Webb) are back and they’re making sure that our hopes and dreams are crushed alongside their own.
Set only 6 months after Mark’s nerdy counterpart Dobby leaves for New York as a result of himself and Jeremy fawning over her quite maliciously, Jeremy comes back for Superhans’s stag do. Or rather, a juice detox that quickly launches into classic debauchery and filth.
Fans of the show will be delighted to hear that while the actors themselves admitted that they’re getting far too old to be playing post university house chums, Jeremy is still very much a sympathetic scumbag who mooches off of everyone else to get by, while Mark by contrast,is a tight lipped, passive aggressive 9-5 worker who’s insecurities and fear of change ultimately lead to his downfall.
We see this with the main premise of the episode being that Mark has a new flat mate to replace Jeremy, to which at first Mark fools himself into believing that watching endless amounts of William Morris documentaries and reading Napoleon is the lifestyle for him.
However even in his near ideal situation, Jeremy’s toxic and manipulative ways get the best of Mark, as they decide to throw him out. While of course it’s comforting to see the ‘El Dude Brothers’ back together, you sort of end up sympathizing with Mark as he inevitably gets up to his own destructive hijinks with Jeremy.
Writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong certainly know exactly how to capture the most mundane parts of 21st century Britain, whether it’s killing time on the toilet playing Candy Crush, the gross gentrification of hip smoothie bars in London, or even watching Grand Designs to pass time, knowing full well that you’re watching total garbage. The addition of having borderline sociopath Alan Johnson back in the mix as Mark’s boss (Paterson Joseph) no matter what career he seems to chose, is a welcome addition to Mark’s bleak reality around him.
While we all know this is the final series, with Bain and Armstrong stating themselves that it won’t end well for the duo, there’s still a very strong feeling that you do want it to end well for Mark and Jeremy. A show that hooks you in with that false sense of hope and security, even after being on the air for more than 10 years, know full well that it wouldn’t be the same show without all the hilarious pain.