Another good episode and one I probably saw a long time ago, as I vaguely remember that bit with Besser running into Lou. As usual, Sid Fields is wonderful. That whole routine with him getting more and more offended is very expertly timed; apparently he himself was part of a comedy team back in burlesque, so I imagine that probably gave him an advantage when it came to having to do fast verbal routines. And I also love how over-the-top he looks at the party; Costello is so shocked by his dress combined with the goofy grin, he just slams the door on him. The actual party scene itself is interesting as a set-up of sorts; for once, people who normally are mean to him (except Hillary) are finally nice to him and, Lou being Lou, he has to go and ruin that too. The second half is mostly Lou’s low point, which, as you’d expect, involves misunderstanding after misunderstanding. Definitely some sadness in there, but at the same time, you can’t help but laugh at some of these misunderstandings; an old lady who hits him with an umbrella and blames him for breaking it, a guy defending Besser...things get pretty crazy. It’s all topped off with the cake scene featuring Mr. Bacciagalupe. It’s a very funny way to end the episode, especially since, unlike the misunderstandings that directly preceded it, the frustration here is entirely Lou’s fault. He literally did not tell Bacciagalupe that he wanted any of this stuff beforehand and Bacciagalupe even points this out to him, so while you can still sympathize with Lou, you can also sympathize with Bacciagalupe. And at the end of the day, Bud and Lou are back together on stage, so, at the very least, the audience knows Bud and Lou will stay together for more episodes. Funny episode with just the right amount of laughs and pathos.
