So, "Hairography". This episode is notable for two things: the epic upside-down butt shaking move in Jane Adams Academy's "Bootylicious" number (I KNOW you know exactly what I'm referring to) and the abuse of the word 'distract' in its various forms.
The writers are big on having a theme for every episode, and I fully support that. The theme (usually) helps things stay on track within each installment, and I imagine having a main focus streamlines the script writing process to some degree. That being said, the whole "theme" theme has notoriously gone awry on several occasions. "Hairography" is the prime example. The theme of 'distractions' is laid out very clearly in the first scene. Then, during the course of the episode, different characters say the words 'distract', 'distraction', or 'distracted' no fewer than 18 times. I know, because I counted. I may have even missed a couple because it didn't occur to me to keep track until several minutes into the first act. It's to the point that the theme is a distraction in and of itself.
I have a theory on this. Ian Brennan wrote the script for this episode. We know he's a free-thinker and a bit of a card. I suspect he also enjoys messing with people. Part of me thinks he purposely stuffed the script full of 'distractions' in order to be ironically distracting. Doesn't that seem like something he would do? I certainly prefer this hypothesis to the (rather insulting) alternative, which is that either a. the writing is just incredibly sloppy here or b. Ian felt the audience was too dense to glom on to the theme without repeating it ad nauseam. I'm going to give Mr. Brennan the benefit of the doubt and go with "ironically distracting". I honestly can't believe this hasn't dawned on me before now. I was obviously distracted.
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