‘Anger Management’ Review: “Charlie and Kate Horse Around”

‘Anger Management’ continues on its 90-episode, two-year run with its 24th overall episode “Charlie and Kate Horse Around,” as Charlie takes the group to an equine therapy ranch, hoping to patch up their differences, while Jen notices Kate's interest in a local boy.

Previous episode “Charlie and Lacey Piss Off the Neighborhood” saw Charlie inadvertently antagonizing his neighbors by revealing the presence of his therapy group, while Kate helped Jen and Sam pick out a prom dress, so what will the latest episode bring?  Are there more laughs to be had in the twenty-fourth half-hour of ‘Anger Management,’ or does it feel like a horse's ass?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Anger Management’ episode 24, “Charlie and Kate Horse Around!”

Patrick speaks to the group about his devastation over his father ignoring his birthday, but the session quickly devolves when Charlie realizes the patients have begun taking bets with one another over each other's word usages. Soon enough, all the group members are at one another’s throat, forcing Charlie to get them in line by ordering a group meditation.

With the others meditating, Charlie finds Sam and Jen in the kitchen, Sam despondent that her favorite horse was sent away to live on an “Equine Therapy” ranch. Once Charlie and Sam explain to Jen that it isn’t a euphemism for death, Charlie ponders if equine therapy could work for the group, agreeing to take Sam and Jen along on the trip as well. When Charlie returns to the group, they’ve already gone, leaving Ed asleep.

After their latest night together, Kate condescends to, or rather patronizes Charlie that his group has simply begun to fall apart, and no amount of equine therapy or other will bring them back together. Hoping to prove her wrong, Charlie takes the group to the ranch the next day, introducing them to Butterscotch, the horse they’ll all collectively take care of. Each seem to apply their own neuroses toward caring for the horse, but when Jen and Kate enter, Kate only has eyes for the stable boy Jimmy.

Later, Jen urges Charlie to keep an eye on Sam and Jimmy, while the foursome continue to argue about how best to care for the horse. Charlie jokes alone with Butterscotch after the four storm out, and Kate soon shows up reluctantly looking to apologize. After making up, Kate proposes that they ride Butterscotch together as a warm-up for their own ride, despite strict rules about horseback rides on the ranch.

Back at the hotel bar, Charlie rallies the group to pull together and take care of the horse, though the group continues squabbling over who gets the animal at what time. Upstairs, Jen notices Sam furiously texting away, and attempts to broach the subject of Jimmy to no avail. Meanwhile downstairs, Charlie and Kate return from riding Butterscotch and prepare to get hot and heavy, before Butterscotch keels over dead.

Charlie rushes back to the room to confess to Sam, but finds Sam has supposedly gone to say goodnight to Butterscotch. Jen sees through Charlie’s lie and realizes that he killed the horse, but when Sam returns to the room, she insists that she took an uneventful stroll to the lake with Butterscotch. Given her affection, Charlie and Jen quickly realize she spent the night with Jimmy instead.

The next day, the group holds a memorial for Butterscotch, having finally pulled together in grief for his death. Kate reluctantly admits that Charlie’s therapy worked in the end, while Charlie reveals that Jen was kicked off the ranch for assaulting Jimmy.

As the first major use of the group excursion trope, it certainly offered a unique variation on the average 'Anger Management' episode to have the group congregating in a new setting. Once again however, "Charlie and Kate Horse Around" suffers from a bit of overcrowding, bringing multiple story-lines into a moderate run-time. Certainly we've seen Charlie and Kate go through issues of respect before while Kate and Sam's story would be better served by a bit more space. After all, we only see the object of Sam's affection once, and Jen's resolution has to be given in exposition toward the end. Considering 'Anger Management has 76 more episodes under contract, you'd think they could space out stories a bit more.

Did you enjoy the latest from ‘Anger Management’s ongoing run, or did it make you burn with rage? Join us next week for another all-new ‘Anger Management’ episode recap of “Charlie's Patients Hook Up” on FX!