In all three episodes, the best friends hit important milestones: Abbi learns to expect more of herself (and make more of her opportunities) than she would’ve dared do a decade prior. This knowledge transfers over to Abbi and Ilana as characters, too. One of the highlights is Ilana’s Olympics-inspired commentary over Abbi’s finger skating routine.
While it still tells a traditional narrative with real, in-the-moment scenes - like when Abbi gets the “birthday blues” mid-lunch - much of the episode is constructed with emojis flashing across the screen, slow-motion shots of random NY weirdos, or photos filled with colorful graphics.
Tracking Abbi and Ilana as they walk Manhattan from the top of the island to the bottom, each highlight of the tour is captured via their phones. The adventurous spirit fueling “Stories” shows an eagerness to explore other artistic methods. Glazer and Jacobson are ready to tell a story about who they are now, not who they were, and that’s just as exciting.Īll the reasons you need are right there in the episodes. Not only have Glazer and Jacobson grown as artists to the point where they need to explore new pursuits, new characters, and new mediums beyond their breakout series, but they recognize the need to stop telling stories about what it’s like to be a 20-something-year-old scrapper when you’ve aged out of that lifestyle.
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So why, when the series and stars remain outstanding, is Season 5 the final entry in “Broad City’s” impressive canon? “Broad City” still delivers all the joyous she-rah inspiration and whip-smart social commentary that helped make it a sensation more than five years ago. “Stories” ranks among the best episodes of the series, and the other two prove Jacobson and Glazer - the creators, writers, directors, producers, and stars - remain at the top of their games. “Artsy Fartsy” and “Lost and Found,” which will air almost a month later, dig into personal growth moments for Abbi ( Abbi Jacobson) and Ilana ( Ilana Glazer) - moments told in classic “Broad City” structure, but pushing each leading lady to decisions they’ve been avoiding. “Stories,” the Season 5 premiere, should get critics and fans talking about the gifts and pilfers of social media - how, in an episode shot as if on an iPhone and told as if it’s an Instagram story, the dedication to telling stories for others can rob the storyteller of their own experience. Comedy Central provided three episodes of “ Broad City’s” final season for review, and all three are excellent.