Season two of Crashing has been a real treat to write about each week. It’s been a great season all the way through and has really blossomed in this second outing after a decent first season. It comes to a close this week with “Roast Battle” and goes out on a high note.
Pete decides he’s going to compete at a roast battle, where comedians face each other and have to roast one another, aka saying mean things to the other person. Pete is doing it to impress Ali, but he doesn’t really want to do it because it isn’t in his nature to be mean to people, even during stand up. He talks to Artie about everything, and Artie tells him he has to do this for himself first and foremost, not to impress a girl.
At the battle later, things are getting underway and we see some battles that are pretty hilarious. Ali wins her battle and moves on to the next round. Pete is going up against Tony Hinchcliffe and is clearly a bit nervous. He tries to talk to Tony beforehand, but Tony doesn’t want to talk much and let his guard down at all by giving away ammo for the roast battle. Lief and Jessica show up to watch Pete, which makes Pete even more nervous. As he’s greeting them, Tony walks on over and Lief and Jessica spill the beans to him about how that love triangle came to be. Oh boy.
Pete goes up against Tony and they have an epic battle. There are three judges (Artie, Jeff Ross, and a third judge whose name is escaping me), and Pete edges Tony out to move onto the next round. Now is where the real dilemma begins: the next round will be Pete vs Ali. Pete doesn’t think he can do it. When it comes to showtime, Pete falters at first but then recovers. Pete and Ali throw some serious jabs at each other and it’s the best battle of the night. Pete wins the vote 2-1 and moves on to the finals.
Pete wants to talk to Ali as some of the stuff that was said was personal and private, and he’s upset about it. She tells him it was hilarious and that what they say on stage doesn’t actually matter to her or offend her. Pete doesn’t feel the same and ends up telling her he doesn’t want to date her anymore. It’s unfortunate because she’s an awesome character and I do hope she’s still in the show somehow moving forward, but it also is the right move for Pete. It’s not him.
That’s what this whole episode and season has been about. Pete’s been finding himself, and at the end of this episode, he accepts who he is. He ends up losing the roast battle, but he packs his bags and he drives to one of the colleges he booked. He does comedy on campus for them, and one of the girls who must have organized it tells Pete he can stop whenever as it’s been a while since he went up. Pete decides he’s going to keep going for a bit longer. He’s doing what he loves. He’s still figuring it out, but he’s doing it his way. A new chapter begins.
I loved the story this season, and I really can’t wait to see what season three has in store for us!
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