‘Anger Management’ Review: “Charlie & Catholicism”

‘Anger Management’ continues on its 90-episode, two-year run with its 20th overall episode “Charlie & Catholicism,” as Martin's efforts to expose Sam to Catholicism cause Charlie to re-examine his position on religion, and whether or not it belongs in their family.

Previous episode “Charlie is an Expert Witness” saw Charlie and Kate becoming rival witnesses in a trial, while Nolan painted a disturbing portrait of his feelings and Ed tasked Lacey with helping him reclaim his den from his wife’s interference, so what will the latest episode bring?  Are there more laughs to be had in the twentieth half-hour of ‘Anger Management,’ or do we condemn it to hell?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Anger Management’ episode 20, “Charlie & Catholicism!”

In group, Charlie asks Lacey’s sister Satine if she got anything out of attending the meeting, but the girl seems every bit as cantankerous and stuck up as her older sister. Nolan seems utterly enraptured by both women, but Charlie shrugs it off in an effort to curb his own sensitivities about the girls’ Indian heritage.

After the meeting, Jen arrives complaining about how Charlie’s father had been hounding her to spend more time with them of late, to which Charlie reluctantly agrees to allow him to come over on Sunday. The following Sunday however, Martin arrives to the home in a suit, expecting Charlie and the others to go to mass with him as he’d previously claimed to do once a week. Not wanting to be caught in his lie, Charlie has the family dress and go to the church, but fails to realize before the sermon that the church they’ve attended does mass in Spanish.

Back at the house, and his lie revealed, Charlie insists to Martin that he doesn’t want to force a religious upbringing on Sam, regardless of Martin’s fears she’ll end up condemned to hell. Martin is astonished to learn that Sam wasn’t even baptized, and concurs with Michael that it should be a painless ceremony that protects her in any regard. The next day, Charlie finds one of his sessions interrupted by Sam and Martin, the former having nearly been hit in a car accident from her bike. Charlie tends to Sam, but when Martin brings up his fears for his granddaughter, Ed suggests he baptize her without Charlie’s permission.

The next night at Kate’s, Charlie continues worrying about his father’s interference, not realizing that Kate has put on a Catholic schoolgirl outfit coincidental to the situation. After she changes, Kate agrees that Charlie’s worries about religion might be rooted in his own feelings against his father, but that Sam should be shown the available options regardless.

The next day, Charlie and Jen look online at a variety of different religions, but find themselves livid when Martin comes home with Sam and reveals he already had her baptized. Martin insists that it was Sam’s own choice, and even Jen comes around when she sees the pictures, but Charlie insists that he plans to take Sam to investigate a number of religions without Martin’s interference.

Back at the Spanish church, Charlie and Sam’s visitation is quickly interrupted by Martin anyway, as Martin lets slip that he got Sam into Catholicism by exploiting her OCD tendencies. Charlie yells at his father in the middle of mass, for which he later goes to confession, ultimately heeding the priest’s advice that it doesn’t matter what brings people to the church if the church makes them happy. That night at Kate’s, Charlie reluctantly accepts that his daughter has made her choice of religion for now, before Kate steps out in a devil costume for their own form of worship.

Some episodes, 'Anger Management' chooses to reflect its more familial values, for which Martin Sheen is frequently used to good effect. With "Charlie & Catholicism" however, the character appears to suffer from some extreme inconsistency, having been portrayed as a screw-up and a deviant previously. The episode could in theory explore some interesting questions with regard to religion, but expectedly takes a more sitcom approach to the matter, even for FX. If nothing else, at least we got Selma Blair in a schoolgirl outfit!

Did you enjoy the latest from ‘Anger Management’s ongoing run, or did it make you burn with rage? Join us next time for another all-new ‘Anger Management’ episode recap of “Charlie Dates Crazy, Sexy, Angry” on FX!