“Four and Three and Two and One-One.”
Any fan knows the above jingle as the theme song to the hilarious and over-the-top hit comedy show, Broad City. Back for its fourth season, the show premiered last week as the second-highest-rated episode in the series’ history. Episode 4×01—titled “Sliding Doors”—takes viewers on a bit of a throwback journey as we discover the day Abbi and Ilana first met. Interspersed with “what if” flashbacks playing out the possibility of their friendship never taking off, “Sliding Doors” combines the nostalgic with a sense of insight.
We first meet the duo as they enter (or attempt to enter) the gates of New York City’s subway. Abbi’s metro card is out of funds, and the ever-quirky Ilana offers to swipe her in, forgetting that now she is the one locked out. Hopping over the turnstile, the two descend in a panic hoping to catch their train. Although they miss the stop, this pivotal moment sees their friendship truly take off.
The girls decide to spend the day together and wander through New York, finding themselves in a series of wacky adventures. The flashback episode takes place in the heyday of 2011, and the pair reminisces about having the country’s first black president and all the promise they believe lies ahead. “I feel like we’re finally moving forward,” exudes Ilana. “And it’s just the beginning,” agrees Abbi. “Never backward. Only forward.” “Next is a woman!” quips Ilana. L-O-L. Clearly, this scene is an instance of the show writers’ painful hindsight awareness that Donald Trump would be elected in 2016. How many of us can relate to that hopeful spirit we held back then? I know I can.
Later, Abbi and Ilana visit a psychic, get tattoos, grab pizza, and agree to hang out again the very next day. In “world two” where the girls don’t miss their train and go on to seemingly separate lives, a series of misfortunes plagues the day of both characters. Ilana shows up late to her college class and attempts to fake a presentation in truly Ilana fashion, only to be kicked out and soon fired from her café job. Abbi spends the day utterly alone in the city, drowning her sorrows in a solo fro-yo cup as Ilana passes by outside. Eventually, chance has it that Abbi stumbles upon Ilana smoking a bowl and wearing a souvenir-shop T-shirt in the middle of the day. They both commiserate in what had been an equally awful day for both of them, eventually bonding over pizza once more and writing their names in wet cement.
What was fantastic about Broad City’s premiere season four episode is the inevitability of Abbi and Ilana’s friendship. No matter if a single event changed the course of both their days, they still found some cosmic way of building a friendship. “Sliding Doors” illuminated many of the realities of both life in New York City during your 20s and the promise of true friendship. With a compelling season ahead (think: the word “Trump” bleeped out in every instance of its use) we can’t wait to see what these two Broads have in store for an audience in much need of their sharp, comedic return.
Check out Broad City on Wednesdays at 10:30pm, on Comedy Central.