Review: Ultra City Smiths: “O-o-h Child”

Overview: With Nico (Chris Conrad) in a critical state and his baby momma, Jaya (Sunita Mani) in the midst of child labor, David (Jimmi Simpson) and Gail (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) eventually join forces once again to finish closing the Carpenter K. Smith (Kurtwood Smith) murder while also battling their demons. Meanwhile, the city undergoes a political whirlwind of change as Donella Pecker’s (Kristen Bell) position as mayor suffers. 

Our Take: As the season grows ever closer to its end, “O-o-h Child” distinguishes itself as the strongest episode thus far of the season.

The final scene between Nico and David in the alley is some of their best banter yet as the sensualist breathes his last words of wanting to sleep with an even thousand number of people. It’s these insane humor that play into the character’s quirks along with other running jokes coming into play that make it their funniest displays, ending it with a comedic high note. 

On Gail’s end, the unraveling of her son is yet another prime example of how the show expertly shows the effect the city has on the youth of the concrete jungle as a whole. Another showcase of this story aspect is that of the guilt that Little Grace feels for crippling a reporter. Beyond that, Gail’s relationship with Jaya, the mother of Nico’s child unbeknownst to him, is yet another phenomenal aspect with their motherhood making for a grounded dynamic. It’s also quite a hilarious one especially with Jaya’s random and awkward singing. 

Even with all the comedic powerhouse performances thus far, Donella Pecker and Chris Pecker, played by real life wife and husband, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, are without the standouts of the episode. Each spouse is incredibly absurd and wacky in their own unique way. Chris’s philiac sounding last name is a nonstop running joke conveyor belt but without any of the artificial unoriginality because it is always firing on all cylinders (Ba-dum-tss) and delivers each time with a new twist on the gag. Shepard is an absolute joy as he leans into the character’s deplorable ethics that make him that much more fun to hate. As great as he is, Bell does him one better with her directly oddball musical number that goes into her overall social awkwardness, not to mention her dry humor in her tired displeasure with the incessant riff on her last name. The pièce de résistance of their entire screen time though is their leaked sex scene and all the weirdness that went into it in creating it. Their real world couple dynamic I feel really helped as they were just having a good time with their goofy bedside manner and just enjoying chemistry with one another.

Also as a side note one other notably strong suit of the series is the great cinematography showing off the great sets of the city and the nice detail on the puppet’s clothing, especially when it comes to the detail of the materials and fabrics like David’s leather jacket and it’s sheen or the stitching on his denim jeans.  

Ultra City Smiths penultimate episode is series best with top notch comedic writing and acting along with more down-to-earth character interplay.