‘Anger Management’ Review: “Charlie and Kate Start a Sex Study”

‘Anger Management’ continues on its 90-episode, two-year run with its 32nd overall episode “Charlie and Kate Start a Sex Study," as Charlie and Kate attempt to put aside their differences for an experiment, while Lacey recruits the others to help her get fired from a job.

Last Tuesday’s episode “Charlie & His New Therapist” saw Charlie’s difficulty collaborating with Kate on a study lead him to a new therapist (Marion Ross), while Patrick perpetrated a lottery prank on Ed as comeuppance, so what will the latest episode bring?  Are there more laughs to be had in the thirty-second half-hour of ‘Anger Management,’ or does it fail miserably?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Anger Management’ episode 32, “Charlie and Kate Start a Sex Study"!

Lacey arrives late to the meeting after preparation for her new job as a pharmacy rep, though she intends to get fired from her current job at Sephora in order to collect unemployment. Kate bursts into the meeting upset about a patient dying, but when the group clears out, she admits it to be a ruse to work on her study with Charlie. Charlie refuses to participate, though Kate points out he’s only punishing her for their relationship difficulties of late.

After a talk with Mike, Charlie meets Kate at her office and reluctantly agrees to participate in the study comparing the happiness of those in monogamous relationships against those in casual arrangements, though the two still seem bitter. Elsewhere, Lacey recruits Nolan to act out as a customer at Sephora in order to get her fired, though the manager refuses to fire anyone ethnic like Lacey in fear of a lawsuit.

In their new office, Charlie and Kate interview multiple couples for the sex study, though quickly find their own biases and the various couples’ idiosyncrasies prevent them from procuring suitable candidates. At last a young attractive couple describes their erotic experiences, leading both Charlie and Kate in need of sequestered bathroom time. When the pair return, Charlie insists he didn’t satisfy his overwhelming need as Kate did, and denies any residual sexual tension from their study.

Lacey next brings Patrick into Sephora to cause a scene over Lacey’s behavior, which succeeds in getting her fired given that Patrick reasoned a gay lawsuit to be worse than one borne of Lace’s ethnicity. Elsewhere Charlie meets with this prison group and once again lapses into discussing his worries about Kate, as the inmates point out that the presence of a third party might do well to calm the tension down.

The next day Charlie brings in an attractive male intern, though Kate quickly sees through the ruse and invites the young man out to spur Charlie on. The next morning Kate does her best to imply something happened, but quickly finds Charlie distracted by a young female intern. The young girl quickly denies Charlie’s affections, as both Kate and Charlie admit to compensating for the sexual tension between them.  Kate admits to using the young male intern, who overhears her from behind and soon storms out.

The next day Charlie and Kate accept the young sexual couple into the study, their personal tension broken up by the presence of middle-aged intern Brian (Brian Posehn), who excuses himself to the bathroom.

'Anger Management' earned something of a brief uptick in ratings with this Monday's special FOX airing, though as we've stated before, nothing about Charlie Sheen's 90-episode deal remains in jeopardy. It proves refreshing to see Charlie and Kate approaching their relationship from a different angle -- or at least confronting its deficiencies as such -- though we wonder how much life the current development can inject into the ongoing series. But the same problems as ever persist, between a lack of resolution to Lacey's story, the exclusion of Charlie's immediate family, and the continued dissociation of the prison circle.

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 & the Secret Gigolo” on FOX!