‘You’re the Worst’ Boss and Stars Say Season 3 Is About ‘Families You Create and Families You’re Given’
Heading into its third season, You’re the Worst holds onto its hard-fought status as one of #PeakTV’s hidden gems: a romantic comedy for people who loathe romantic comedies. And nobody would be faster to dis this always-popular genre than Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash), the central couple on creator Stephen Falk’s L.A.-set series. A struggling author and flinty PR flack respectively, Jimmy and Gretchen have spent the past two years fighting through cynicism, narcissism, and one very serious bout of depression to arrive at something that looks a whole lot like love. With the season premiere set to launch on Aug. 31, we spoke with Cash, Geere, and Falk in separate interviews to find out what’s in store for everyone’s favorite pair of unlikely (and for some, downright unpleasant) lovers.
On Season 3’s theme:
Aya Cash: I would say family is the theme of the season, the families that you create and the families that you’re given. Obviously, Gretchen is dealing with her depression in new ways, and one of those ways is seeing a therapist. [Her therapist will be played by Orange Is the New Black star Samira Wiley.] And you can’t be in therapy without delving into your family background.
Chris Geere: The theme is two parts: The first is centered around family. Now that Gretchen and Jimmy have declared their love for each other in the roundabout way that they do, what are the consequences of that? What extra responsibilities and commitment do they have to give to each other? Secondly, the word I would use is re-evaluation. There’s something that happens to Jimmy early on in the season that changes their relationship, and how does that spur a re-evaluation of their lives? They have to question whether this is going to be forever and, if so, do they want it?
Stephen Falk: I’ve trained them well! [Laughs.] Yes, we’re really exploring the idea of what family means this season, and how it’s a scary idea to some and a good idea to others. A lot of shows rely on this kind of weird false narrative of, “And then they form an unexpected family,” which I think has been overused and doesn’t really mean anything. We’re looking at that moment when your partner starts to become your family. And if you’re a fan of the show, you can probably anticipate that’s a rocky transition for Jimmy and Gretchen, but it’s one they’re certainly aware of and starting to face.
On what to look forward to in the new season:
Geere: Jimmy’s erotic tale is still being worked on. As with previous seasons, we get to see a glimmer of huge success on the horizon, and then life gets in the way and it all backfires through no fault of his own… or so he thinks. For Jimmy and Gretchen, they’re more together this season than the entire time we’ve seen them. There’s more solidarity, but they confront challenges neither were expecting. We also moved Jimmy’s house to a soundstage this year; it looks exactly the same, but being on a stage allows us to do different and more creative shots. In one episode, there’s a montage sequence using camera equipment we’ve never worked with before. Stylistically, I think it’s going to be a cool season.
Cash: The rapper boys, Sam, Honey Nutz, and S–tstain are back, and they’re everyone’s favorite. Those guys steal the show every time they’re on camera. I will tease that Gretchen has a new client, and I am over-the-moon excited about who this client is. The person is playing themself, that’s all you get! There is some play this season with structure and traditional storytelling that you don’t necessarily see in sitcoms. I think it’s going to be a really fun season. There will be some darkness, but Jimmy and Gretchen are back on the same side, and that’s been really fun. I’ll also say that you’re going to get Game of Thrones spoilers if you watch our show. All Game of Thrones details will be revealed including the entirety of Book 6. [Laughs.]
On Gretchen’s depression storyline from Season 2:
Cash: I wasn’t nervous to play that storyline, I was more nervous about how people were going to react to a comedy taking on those issues. Would they be like, “I don’t want this kind of thing in my comedy, I just want laughs!” Thank God I’m not a writer, because they weren’t scared of it. During shooting, there were times where I joked, “Another cry day?” [Laughs.] Chris has said that it was really hard for him. We love working together, and it’s hard to work with someone who is shut down. Chris was trying to get me to engage as an actor, and he felt like he was running up against a brick wall.
Geere: Aya had to be in a specific mood last season, and trying to connect with someone who doesn’t want to be connected with was very tricky. Even though she was in a scene with me, I felt like I was on my own because her agenda was very different. There were little things Aya would do when she was obviously upset by something [in a scene], and I’d naturally want to see what was going on and how she was. Stephen had to pull me back a few times and say, “You’re paying too much attention to it.” So I had to really distance myself from what was going on. I’m glad it went where it went. We earned them saying “I love you,” by the end. They’d been through such a roller coaster the entire season, and it put them in a stronger position.
Falk: In retrospect, I’m proud and a little amazed that we pulled it off and the audience went along with it. I’m also regretful that Aya Cash hasn’t won all the acting awards for it! We bought some narrative goodwill, and the network appreciated that we stuck the landing in a story we absolutely could have face-planted. I think they have a little more willingness to let us play and try different things, and we certainly have some surprises in store this season.
On being on the cutting edge of Internet memes like “Sunday Funday” and “New Phone Who Dis?”:
Falk: My writers are all Internet savvy and are aware of trends and what’s going on. It’s happened too many times now for it to be 100 percent happenstance: We’ve come across some kind of funny wordplay, and made it a big part of our show and it proliferates very quickly. We’re not trying to find our “Yada-yada.” We just hear things and think they’re funny and try to put them in.
Cash: People say, “You guys invented Sunday Funday,” and I’m like, “No we didn’t.” It was already out there, but maybe we helped send it over the top. And by “we,” I mean the writers, because I have nothing to do with it. They do everything, and we just get the credit because we’re the faces of the show.
On the “England Vacation” episode that should (but probably won’t) happen:
Geere: I’d love to be the tour guide for once! I’ve been in California for three years now, and have been lucky to have great friends and local knowledgeable people surrounding me. But I’ve always felt like the tourist. So it would be lovely to go to England and say, “This is Manchester. Yes, it is as rainy as you thought it would be. And the food isn’t as good as I told you it would be.” There’s so much room for humor in putting Angelenos into a working-class Manchester situation. I don’t think the cultural differences between the Brits and Americans has been explored enough in comedy. Failing that, we’re always pitching doing a Sunday Funday in Barbados. But I don’t think that’s in the cards either. [Laughs.]
Cash: If you can get us a couple million viewers per episode, than we can afford to go to England! Unless you’re going to do England via San Pedro, I don’t think we’re going to England. [Laughs.] I live in New York, so we’re constantly trying to get an episode set in New York. But the show is also so much about L.A. You’re more likely to get a musical episode!
On the musical episode that everyone (but Stephen Falk) wants to see:
Cash: Now I’m not saying that you will get a musical episode! We all sing a little bit, and everyone’s been superjealous that Kether [Donohue] gets to do her songs every season. So a musical episode might be really fun, but I also don’t think that you need to do stunt stuff. You’ve got to do it right, otherwise it just becomes people doing an episode because they’re bored.
Geere: We’ve been pitching the idea of a musical episode every year, and the rule is that anything we pitch, Stephen disregards. [Laughs.] But last year, he asked me if there’s anything I’d like to do this season, and I said I’d love to sing in some capacity and I would also love to play sports, because Jimmy is terrible at sports. So this season, you get to see Jimmy sing in the Sunday Funday episode, and he also plays basketball in a montage in another episode that’s one of the funniest things I’ve gotten to do on this show. I’m not saying that I’m good at sports, but I’ve been playing all my life, whereas Jimmy has never picked up a basketball. So watching him play is hilarious.
Falk: I’ve played with the idea. But musical episodes seem to me like, “It’s Season 7 and we’re f**king bored.” Unless there’s some driving narrative reason to do it, I think it would feel overly stunt-y. If we’re going to do a musical or silent episode, I think it’s going to be a few seasons away. By the way, the cast is always trying to get me to let them sing! Now they’re using journalists to do it. So dirty.[Laughs.]
You’re the Worst premieres Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 10 p.m. on FXX.
