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Another Week, Another "#PilotFight" on (last week's) La To Vegas.


On the February 27 episode of LA to Vegas, “#PilotFight,” Ronnie deals with a toothache, Captain Dave agrees to fight his nemesis and Artem and Nichole take bets on the bout.  I’m writing recaps and reviews of this show and I kinda forgot about it.  That’s probably not a good sign.
BEGIN SPOILAGE 
Ronnie has a toothache and goes to see a Dentist, who turns out to be Artem.  After a few funny scenes between Captain Dave and Copilot Alan in which they play the hand slap game and elude to going to couples therapy together, which is a funnier story than the one we have this week, we reveal one of the passengers is disgraced Pilot Steve, played by Dermot Mulroney.  Steve is there to pick a fight with Captain Dave. The two agree to fight later at the Vegas airport. 
When they land in Vegas, Ronnie’s toothache is out of control so Artem does some improvised dental surgery. Colin, who is a university-trained boxer, attempts to teach Dave how to fight but Dave can’t dodge punches.  Artem dispatches Nichole to take bets on who will win.  Bernard goes to see Steve, hoping to talk him out of the fight, but it turns out Steve trains regularly and is going to destroy Captain Dave.  Bernard tries to enlist Ronnie to help call the fight off, but she’s laid up in the Vegas Airport Medical Area recovering from Artem’s improvised airport dentistry.   Meanwhile, Artem is concerned he’s going to lose money because everyone Nichole has gotten to bet on the fight bet on Captain Steve.  Artem, Bernard and Nichole encourage Captain Dave to fight dirty.  Colin calls Ronnie and begs for her help so she goes against Artem’s dental advice and rushes to stop the fight.  She points out how similar Dave is to Steve and they make up.  Someone throws a suitcase at Ronnie, knocking out another one of her teeth, but at least the first toothache doesn’t feel so bad.  The episode ends with Captain Dave and Captain Steve squabbling over who gets to fly the plane and Bernard offering the incredibly self-aware line “this is so dumb,” which is honestly how I felt about this whole episode.
END SPOILAGE
Written by Ian Brennan and Directed by Eva Longoria, “#PilotFight” is a professionally made sitcom with tension and humor escalating throughout.  Like the last three episodes of LA to Vegas, it is just fine.  Everyone involved in this series knows how to make a network sitcom. Unfortunately, all that know-how is being used to create something fairly lackluster. 
LA to Vegas is funny, but it doesn’t feel special or unique.  It feels like domestic beer in a craft beer universe, or like Budweiser is trying to make a microbrew.  The show has good jokes and decent stories, but after six episodes, it continues struggling to create conflict absent a fistfight because this is a workplace comedy without a boss.  The lack of an authority in this universe prevents LA to Vegas from telling grounded, relatable workplace stories because it omits the most relatable aspect of any job: having a boss who kinda sucks.  This lack of a central boss character also impedes LA to Vegas from expressing any weighty themes or a specific point of view.  The push and pull of Jack and Liz on 30 Rock expressed themes of the commercial and artistic clash which is at the heart of the best network television.  Michael Scott’s tension with the employees on The Office spoke to ubiquitous workplace frustrations with those in charge.  LA to Vegas features no such relationship and continues to feel flavorless and flat because of it.    
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