We've received tons of comments in past reviews expressing disdain for Chestnut. He's a magnificent horse, yes, but horses ARE darned expensive. The 2 Broke Girls could have sold him way back, people said. Instant cash!

Well, in the case of "And The 90's Horse Party," they used him to entice hipsters to pay $100 for a chance to throw down. That is the way to a perennial source of income, is it now? Or at least a source of income as long as hipsters still find it ironic enough to be cool. 

The Good. I am gonna have to say it. Everyone pulled off their comedic weight in tonight's episode. Yes, even Larry, Curly, and Moe (aka Oleg, Earl and Han). The cardboard cutouts were finally infused with some personality. Boris is still a slimy perv, but him mistaking the 90's "horse" party with "whores" party was one of the funnier word play jokes. Han is just a socially awkward guy trying to find some lady love. And Earl?

He can swing a bat and scare off a bunch of obnoxious, privileged rich boys. Okay, so the "personality" part may be a bit of a stretch to use, but I appreciate the attempts at making them more useful characters. 

The chemistry between Caroline and Max was stronger, too. I get that Max ragging on Caroline seem to be the running theme of their relationship. It's a part of Max's personality to be sarcastic and cynical. Since the bulk of interaction is between our two broke girls, there's no one more available to rag on than Caroline. However, I liked that tonight Caroline was giving as good as she gets.

Example: the Push by Sapphire comment. She was also given more memorable lines to utter, such as "put my wad in his face for a change." The funnier punchlines still skewed to Max a bit, but the scale was closer to being balanced than in the past.

My favorite part of the episode was the interaction in the freezer room, for many reasons. First, the nipping and gumdrops incident cracked me up. Even if I'm not the intended audience for that joke, as a woman I could definitely relate to the awkward effects of a cold room. Second, I liked the heartfelt talk between Max and Caroline regarding the boyfriend who dumped Caroline without a word (not even via text!) after she lost all her money. Caroline avoided him because of her embarrassment over her current lack of cash and status. But, like Max pointed out, she is doing an honest day's work. There was no reason she shouldn't be able to hold her head up high. Max's matter of fact words was just the thing to snap her out of her self-doubt.

When they busted out of the freezer with a mind to give William, the ex, a tongue lashing, I was surprised the confrontation never materialized. Caroline slinked away again. Conflicts get all tidied up at the end of an episode in many other shows, complete with heart-stirring music (Ah, Full House), but not this time.  I was okay with that. We don't always feel brave enough in awkward social situations, even when there's no reason not to be. 

Last item to be pleased about was Chestnut finally being of use to the girls. As mentioned above, many readers had been complaining about the stupidity of keeping the horse, and some postulated that it probably had a future use. And here it is. Chestnut can be a money-maker in many ways, as long as he stays magnificent. I am not sure the writers are going to let Chestnut raise that cupcake fund too fast, but at least he'll be there to pay off student loans and probably a host of other bills. Which begs the question, can I get in on this racket? 

The Bad. Or, rather, minor quibbles. Caroline is constantly harping on her impressive education, internship, and innate financial and business savvy. Yet it took her this long to find a money-making use for Chestnut? I call horse dung.

While we're on the topic of having business savvy, Han is a sad, sad business man if he agreed to this 90s Horse Party without a cut. Also sad that he keeps letting his employees treat him like an adolescent busboy. Unless, of course,  this is all a ploy to get a sympathy lay from either of the girls. Maybe he's milking his adolescent persona to that end!

Hey I can dream of such layered story-telling.

Stray Observations:

• There seem to be a general distaste for all things hipster.
• At this point, it's obvious the show is going for more adult, and sometimes gutter humor. I'm ok with it as long as it's funny. You?
• I hope we see William again, if only to have Caroline put her wad in his face for a change. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
• Are we ever gonna see the bartender again? The ladies need eye candy too you know, and Larry, Curly and Moe aren't exactly cutting it.
• I really, really dug the music they played during that 90's hipster-fest. TLC's "Creep" for the win!