‘Mom’ Meeting: Bradley Whitford and Nicole Sullivan Bring Unhinged Hilarity

‘Mom’ welcomes guest stars Bradley Whitford and Nicole Sullivan for a dose of much-needed unhinged hilarity…. to the terror of Bonnie and Christy.

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As Mom remained focused on stacking the building blocks of impending drama in the first half of Season 4, imagine our delight when a pair of recognizable guest stars injected the sitcom with a breath of fresh air. Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) and Nicole Sullivan (MADtv, The King of Queens, and the lesser known but equally awesome Rita Rocks) join the cast for a whirlwind of comedy chaos. It’s exactly what Mom needed going into the new year.

Of course, we’re counting down the days until series star Anna Faris’ husband, Chris Pratt, makes his long-anticipated guest appearance. But the latest episode’s double whammy of comedy veterans served as a primer for what’s sure to be the guest appearance to end all guest appearances. (Is it just me or are we all this excited for Pratt’s episode? I’m expecting full support on this.) As a married couple with a flair for partying, Whitford and Sullivan go for the Emmy with performances as unhinged as their characters’ actions.

Adam announces to Bonnie that his best friend Mitch (Whitford) and his wife Leanne (Sullivan) are coming to town from Los Angeles, inciting a meet-the-parents level anxiety in Bonnie. Since they became a couple, this has been their first milestone moment. (Not counting their loud sex that keeps Christy up at night.) Thinking the couple enjoys the finer things in life as LA dwellers, Bonnie breaks out Jill’s fine dinnerware and prepares a feast of fancy appetizers. Unfortunately, she didn’t need to pull out all the stops to impress them.

When a pair of recovering alcoholics have more decorum than an esteemed Hollywood director and his wife, then you know something’s amiss. Adam and Mitch fall into their frat boy patterns the second Bonnie opens the front door. Leanne brought a bottle of wine, downs it, and drinks vodka like it’s water. Honestly, though, thank goodness. Nicole Sullivan’s drunken drive-thru scene could save lives.

It wouldn’t be a rambunctious night without secrets coming to the surface. Leanne lets it slip that she and Adam had a sexual relationship before she married Mitch. Of course, in classic sitcom style, the secret penetrates the evening. But it’s not like Bonnie’s planned night of fondue and highbrow conversation was popping off, right? Mitch shows his true colors by groping Bonnie and getting into bed with Christy. (The men on this show are supremely awful.) He blames it on his “bad hand,” but he might have a bigger issue. Is he an alcoholic?

Next: 4 Questions We Still Have About Season 4 of 'Mom'

We could over-analyze how Mom seemed to minimize the grave implications of Mitch’s alcoholism, but that would take away from an episode that was largely harmless and tons of fun. Surely, someone somewhere found fault between the lines of the story. It happens. However, Mom has a monopoly on the morbidly humorous, and this was another fine example at how well the series can cut through addiction with biting laughter.

More than anything, seeing Bonnie and Christy have their lives together for once was a pleasant change of pace. Although Allison Janney and Anna Faris didn’t have much to do comedy-wise, handing over the loose-cannon reins to Whitford and Sullivan’s characters underscored how beautifully boring the mother-daughter duo has become. Thanks, sobriety!

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!

Mom airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.