Dan
is suspicious of his new neighbors and attempts to drive them out
when he becomes convinced they're cannibals.
The
Holiday specials are over and now Dan Vs. season two begins, starting
off with Dan versus his new neighbors. Many of us can probably relate
to having neighbors we just don't like. Maybe they were too annoying,
too loud, perhaps too nosy. But in Dan's case, the problem is that they're too perfect. In fact they really are, but Dan begs to differ and becomes progressively more paranoid.
"The
Neighbors" starts by introducing the new neighbors right away, as
they're struggling to carry a dresser up the stairs of the apartment
complex. Chris arrives and begins to help them after parking. However Dan soon appears and warns Chris to stay away, saying they're evil. Chris just ignores this behavior and
introduces the neighbors to Dan. A moment later in Dan's
apartment, Dan explains how no
one can be that nice without being up to something. Chris doesn't
agree and just wants them to get going so they don't miss a movie. As they
try to leave the neighbors stop them to give Dan a pie, which he “accidentally” drops. Later, when he finds pie splattered on his car below (the same one he dropped!), Dan vows revenge against his neighbors.
Dan begins his revenge by spying on his neighbors and digging through their garbage. After Chris eats another pie they made Dan is confused that he's fine for a fleeting moment, until he decides that they must be trying to fatten him
up to eat him. With that, his fear-driven revenge is on full force. Elise also gets involved when she and Chris go over to meet Dan's new neighbors and actually get to know them. Dan again attempts to gather intel by having Chris dangle over the side of the building with a camera. But after a seemingly friendly act limits Dan's potential escape routes from his apartment, he goes on the offense with cockroaches and medieval siege weaponry. After this lands Chris in the hospital (not for the first time), Elise forces Dan to go over to his neighbors' place for lunch. It is there where the truth about the neighbors is revealed and everything is humorously wrapped up.
As usual, the best thing about this are the characters. Dan, Chris, Elise, the neighbors, and even Dan's
female cat Mr. Mumbles all had their moments here, such as when the episode displays Dan's horrible penmanship. There was also a great running gag
involving Chris getting more and more hurt because of Dan. I enjoyed the
chocolate bar trick in particular, especially the fact that Chris was foolish
enough to fall for it a second time. Although this isn't one of my favorites "The Neighbors" is still another great episode of Dan Vs., and I fully recommend
it.
