In the fourth episode of Angie Tribeca‘s second season, our favorite gang of clueless cops have to solve their first cyber crime. When an infamous website Meet n’ Cheat – which aims at helping people cheat on their spouse no matter how high up in the local government they are- is hacked by a user who threatens to release everyone’s information to the public, Tribeca (Rashida Jones) promises to help catch the culprit despite her moral qualms with the website. However, being inexperienced with such a large-scale hack, the team brings on cyber crime expert Diane Duran (Heather Graham) to help them figure out who’s behind one of the biggest attempted infidelity leaks in all of Los Angeles.
If you read my review of last week’s episode, “Beach Blanket Sting-O,” you’ll recall I dubbed it the best episode of the second season to date. Well, it seems that title has already been displaced by this week’s episode “You’ve Got Blackmail.” Not only is the storyline spoofing the Ashley Madison hacks perfect for a show like Angie Tribeca, there are so many ludicrous, laugh-out-loud moments that it felt like they were rolling off a comedy assembly line. Everything about the storyline felt so well-rounded in its silliness that even the show’s biggest detractors could get a few good laughs here, whether it’s from Rashida Jones’ continuously witty personality or this week’s real-world narrative. And let me tell you the writers play the Ashley Madison spoof to every last delicious drop they possibly can, setting itself as the pinnacle of what an Angie Tribeca episode should feel like.
In fact, some of the episode’s best humor stems from out-of-nowhere, breaking the fourth wall jokes. A whole section spoofs Armie Hammer’s role as twin brothers in The Social Network, and while I’m not sure if everyone is going to get that, even the unfamiliar will find this entire quip to be very funny. There are a lot of jabs at green screen and dual shot effects – which may be more geared toward the inner film student in me – but the absurdity and goofiness of it all is hard not to get a kick out of. Even guest star Heather Graham adds some campy moments to an already laugh-a-minute script, and I hope we get to see more of her character in the near future.
In summation, “You’ve Got Blackmail” is one of the series’ funniest stories to date. You don’t need to be a fan of the show to understand why spoofing Ashley Madison feels so necessary, but being a fan of incredibly silly spoof programs will certainly help. Hitting all the right notes and providing some gut-busting farce, Angie Tribeca continues its hilarious hot streak with another home run.
Rating: 9.5/10
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