TVF Pitchers Review: Episode Two- "And Then There Were Four"

I am in awe of this show. This was a great, really great episode. In ways more than one it surpassed the previous one and I hope that the trend continues. This was completely overwhelming. From eye-wetting emotions to little bits of love to the fantasy land of college developers, this episode had it all.

This time we started with Mandal and how his mother is trying to find a match for him. It was a really comical short sequence in itself and revealed to Mandal his own desire of being in a startup for reasons like delaying his own marriage or to just join in on what all the rest of his friends are doing. This time our startup stars face the problem of keeping Jeetu ( Jitendra, the coder) in their team with the promise of paying him full salary as his job earlier did. As Naveen and Yogi struggled to control their expenses by cancelling gym memberships, shifting internet plans and cutting down on all other luxuries; Jeetu tried to convince his wife to allow him to leave his job to join the startup. Even after all the budget cuts, Naveen and Yogi only managed to arrange for about Rs. 7600 which was way off the mark to keep Jeetu on board (his salary at the company was around Rs. 100,000 something). So now they speculated the idea of letting Jeetu continue his job while working part-time for the startup while they hire another coder who can fit in their budget. At this moment they started considering Yogi’s suggestion, a bright young boy in his final year at college who’s extended family to a friend. This was the highlight of the show. The whole college dormitory scene was simply amazing. The music, the direction, each and every nuance just excellent. Lasting for only a very short period of time but the walk from the entry into the corridor to the door of their guy was very well shot scene in a really exciting and equally elegant manner with subtle references and right humour in the perfect places. Their guide who showed them the way might not be a major character but had a lasting impact. Then they finally met their guy, not just any coder but the Ace- Chintu aka Dungeon_Master (the underscore matters). There they felt somewhat blown out of proportions when Dungeon_Master explained his worth and as far as his achievements are concerned how he could hire "them". Then still showing minimal interest he asked for emailing their proposal to him (or just save a draft) after demanding numerous privileges for working with them. This forced Naveen and Yogi to drop the idea completely and try working it out with Jeetu as Dungeon_Master turned out to be a self-centered and egotistic punk.

The real star of this episode were the side characters whose short lived appearances made huge strides with the story as well as the emotions. The characters of Saumya, Aarti, Shreya, Chintu and Dorm-Guide were very well placed in all the scenarios with some memorable moments (75-headshots). On the other hand Jeetu while doing some household chores confronted his wife about the situation and how he must leave the job to join his friends in the most mellow way possible. Frankly, even I was surprised at this scene. Just like the TVF guys want you to believe, I was also under the impression that now it will go all melodrama and how Jeetu’s wife will lecture him, fight him and reason with him to stay in his job with concerns about financial security, etc. But Saumya exceeded all our imaginations and turned out to be a real angel being empathetic towards Jeetu’s situation and encouraging him to fulfill his desire to work with his friends and also bringing up the subject of finding a job herself. Honestly, Jeetu couldn’t have married anyone better and here was the little sprinkle of lovely relationships on the show which might not hold much significance in relation to the story but are in no way a filler or forced. They justify each characters emotional state and show the viewers a little heart amidst all the ambitious talks. This brings us to another newly introduced female character, Shreya- Naveen’s girlfriend. She was introduced in a video chat which started off with some cute friendly insults and before long she became a part of the emotional environment the show very carefully crafted. In the background of it all, Mandal was preparing for his interview with Naveen to be a part of the startup. Here he requested Shreya to convince Naveen for him but instead she gave him a very important piece of advice. In the end, it all came down to a sentimental dialogue from Mandal which left us teary-eyed.

A still from "And Then There Were Four"

So to sum it all up, this time we had the best episode yet (out of just two) with some really great characters. The side characters and the music stand out as not merely elements of the show but an integral part of the whole thing. If sentiments, ambition and witty writing are the soul of the show then delightfully charming mini characters and catchy background score are its wings. The show also displays its capability of making an emotional connect rather than all mechanical storytelling and touches you, moves you on a deeper level than any other show. As mentioned by me again and again, the minor characters and the direction are the definitive virtues of the show fitting perfectly alongside a realistic and inspirational tale. And once again TVF delivered us with a heartwarming, utterly cool episode with a flock of lovable characters.