Still hitting consistent highmarks in its third season, sleeper-standout The Other Two managed to score a shocking cameo from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
At this point in the series, protagonists Brooke and Cary Dubek have betrayed their closest personal relationships for fame. Their mother, Pat Dubek played by Molly Shannon, has also lost out on maintaining a regular life, but in a way that makes her a bit of an unsympathetic victim.
Pat has reached what can be described as “Oprah levels” of celebrity, to the point where she is unable to leave her palatial estate without intense security preparations and squadrons of armed guards. Since realizing that this is no way to live a normal life, Pat is relegated to spending her time with only those of a similar celebrity stature.
For Pat this translates to one thing: Riding around endlessly on the Marvel private jet and banging Shang-Chi star Simu Liu. Prior to the seventh episode of the third season, titled “Cary Gets His Ass Handed to Him,” Liu had only been referenced for comedic effect. It seemed unlikely that the actor would actually appear on screen as himself. So you can imagine viewers’ surprise to see Liu pop up and orchestrate an elaborate family dinner at a fake Applebee’s.
To explain, Pat is distanced from her family and wants nothing more than a down-to-earth dinner at Applebee’s. Unfortunately she would be swarmed with fans if she even considered stepping foot in the eatery.
Ever the caring partner, Liu hires an entire film crew to recreate an Applebee’s and packs it with extras told to treat Pat like a normal person. Although the tables of extras mouthing “peas and carrots” nonstop leads Pat to figure out the ruse and spiral into an abyss of paranoia, she fails to win the sympathy of onlookers once she starts to complain about doing nothing but traveling the world on a luxury jet and having sex with a Marvel heartthrob.
As far as Liu is concerned, it’s great to see the Kim’s Convenience star return to the world of sitcoms. Even if, according to Pat, he doesn’t know what he’s doing down there.
