Advertisement
In a brilliant form of storytelling, "Twenty-Two" recounts the same day as last week's "Men Get Strong" but follows Edgar instead of Gretchen and Jimmy. The same pancake breakfast switches from silly to depressing, focusing not on the banality of morning conversation but instead on Edgar's shaking hands, his increasing paranoia, his forced smile while his friends insult his cooking. In some ways, "Twenty-Two" can feel like an exaggerated version of mental illness, but that's because PTSD itself can feel like an exaggeration: It makes simple events and random people seem much bigger and scarier than they actually are, twisting the mundane into something dark and sinister. A frying pan becomes a symbol, a shopping trip becomes an impossible mission, a construction worker becomes an enemy.The best piece of advice Edgar receives essentially boils down to "stop looking for someone else to cure you."
Advertisement