"Buddy and the Dude" Review (The Paper' Episode 3)
- Melanie Weir
- Nov 10, 2025
- 10 min read
The Paper: Season 1, Episode 3
My review for “Buddy and the Dude” ended up being so long that I realized that if I'm going to say everything I want to say about these episodes in segments that are still small enough for people to read, I'm probably going to need to break them up. SO. Welcome to the meta-commentary and episode breakdown for Peacock's new series The Paper. If you'd like to read the episode recap first (or instead) it's Right Here.
Ensemble sitcoms like The Paper or The Office or Parks and Rec rely on two key elements to hook viewers in and drive the action forward: Character Growth and Romance. This episode brought both of those things in spades, along with a myriad of connections and references to The Office that manage, not just to connect both stories, but to enrich them and further enhance their common message.
So without any further ado, here is my Actual Review of The Paper's third episode, "Buddy and the Dude."
YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS? GROWTH.
Ned Friendzones Himself
…and it’ll actually probably end up being good for his and Mare’s relationship in the long run. Nevermind the fact that a slow burn is obviously the best and most proven way to go in a show like this one; just look at how awkward he acted when he thought someone had realized he had a thing for Mare!
If Esmeralda hadn’t told him that Mare was asexual, Ned would have fallen too far, too fast, and would probably start doing some weird principled thing where he limits his time with her or stops using contractions when he speaks or something. Ultimately, friendzoning is way better for developing a relationship than the cold, awkward, forced professionalism Ned seems to think is necessary in these situations.
His conscience not getting in the way opens them up to get to know each other without him overthinking things, which makes it much easier for them to quickly discover that they are “drift compatible” —these dorks could definitely operate a kaijou together without needing to utter a word.
(For those who haven’t seen Pacific Rim: Basically, it’s like a soulmate, but for your brain specifically. It’s not necessarily romantic; you just think the same way. You’re almost always on the same page.)
And they are—except, of course, in the one situation that could possibly leave him floundering for what to say: Roleplaying as a couple with Mare.
The day before, Ned probably would have had almost too much fun developing a whole backstory and dynamic for their fictional marriage...but today?
Today his own intense awkwardness and overwhelming sense of his own privilege in nearly every area of life marry with his surprise and confusion to create such an intesnsely awkward situation that you're thrown back to Season 1 of The Office. Mare proposes a fun game, and all Ned can do is project his own discomfort into the world so that we all can feel it. (Why does he tilt his head like that on “brother and sister.” Why. It haunts me.)
Mare Makes a Crucial Choice
That painfully awkward moment—and the entire initial conversation with the mattress salesperson—aside, this little corporation-busting caper that Ned and Mare spend the day together on is obviously exactly what Mare needed to be reassured about the future of the paper.
Mare continues to be our female Jim—the look-to-camera straight-man who always has a wry comment ready, disillusioned by the slog of day-to-day work. Throughout this entire episode, as well as in the episodes leading up to it, Mare has been giving us hints that once upon a time, she really was passionate about reporting—how else would she know what columns the paper ran in the 90s, back when she was still watching Nick. Jr? I don’t think that preschooler was reading the Toledo Truth Teller’s Shame On You section.
Regardless of her principles, though, it makes sense that Mare is a little wary about the future of the Truth Teller. The choice she has to make in this episode is central to her character; this is where she decides to commit or quit. After this, she’s either a Reporter, or she’s not.
Obviously, it worries her when Ned puts the paper’s chances in the range of “cannot fail unless there’s an asteroid that hits the planet,” because that’s entirely ridiculous. But they have a Real Moment in that mattress store, and after they do Ned knows he has to be honest with her.
“I was a little exuberant…the industry is in shambles…95% was optimistic. It’s probably closer to 85.”
It’s not statistically accurate at all, but at least he actually believes it. Charlie Cale would not call bullshit on that one—and neither does Mare, because she ultimately makes the decision that yes, she belongs right there at the Toledo Truth Teller.
(ALSO: Mare, I get your point about king beds giving you too much space but like. Girl. Get a Full at least. A twin??? You and/or your partner are going to have back problems.)
Oscar Cannot Ignore His Own Moral Compass
Meanwhile, back at the office, Marv, Esmeralda, Ken, and Oscar are all gathered for a budget meeting that Esmeralda says Ned categorized as “boring” and “pointless” (two words I’m fairly certain he would never utter about any meeting related to journalism.) Their main purpose is to convince Marv that there’s simply no money for the paper that Ned wants to produce, and that they should simply return to the status quo (you know, the one where Esmeralda was in charge.)
We can see Oscar trying to tell himself not to get involved when Esmeralda and (Tim Key) begin their obvious attempts at sabotage (Does Marv not see it? Or is he just ignoring it? It’s still not entirely clear.) He's fighting himself the whole time, because if we know one thing about Oscar Martinez, it’s that he has a very strong sense of what’s right, and he’s not very good at ignoring it.
He keeps telling the camera—the camera he previously swore he would not talk to—that he won’t do anything to get in their way, but sort of slow-walks himself into doing that anyway. He does manage to find a line item to get rid of that will only piss off Ken, not Esmeralda (the lesser of two evils) but it’s very clear from the strained smiles that Oscar’s name is still on her list…just maybe not as high up as it otherwise would have been.
OFFICE WATCH:
The episode actually does a lot more to tie it to its predecessor than it may seem at first glance: the way the mattress store is run—the way Cindy hates her job—highlights the same decline in salesmanship and customer service that Michael Scott was so mournful of.
“Buddy and the Dude” is kind of the opposite of the “Prince Family Paper” episode of The Office, in a way (a plot that I maintain is one of the most painful to watch in the series, rivaling even “Scott’s Tots”) because it’s about a tiny, scrappy team taking out a big chain store—a little bit through deceit, but mostly just by using their treatment of their workers against them.
It’s a given at this point—are we even surprised that Cindy hates her job at that mattress store? She has to deceive her customers, she has to wear a stupid polo that she’s supposed to pay for herself, (btw, why is THAT such a common thing?!) and apparently policy says if people ask the wrong questions she’s supposed to just abandon them until they get frustrated and leave.
Cindy isn’t just bitter that she wanted to become a geologist and now it’s too late; she’s also bitter that she has to go to work at this soul-sucking job that she hates just so that she can charge people too much for something they really need. Her decree of “I’m gonna write it too!” comes from a place of deep resentment towards that company, and that kind of resentment belies a lot of other little slights we’re not seeing, built up over time.
Anyone with those types of (depressingly common) jobs has probably fantasized about doing exactly what Cindy did, but what’s really cool is seeing Mare and Ned getting to use that to their advantage.
(It’s also cool how the Documentary Crew is actually able to help them in their endeavor just by being there—it did not occur to me what an advantage it must be to have a crew like that on you at all times as journalists. You’re basically wearing a wire all the time—in The Office, this was a nasty shock for the subjects, but this story flips it into a positive, while also cementing the well-engineered way they’ve been integrating that camera “character” into the story this time around.)
It might seem a little depressing that the best anyone can do now is publicly shaming the mattress store into changing their policies, but if you’ve ever seen Newsies, you should know that telling the story can truly be a very powerful place to start.
The Paper is driving at a key point here: If we want to see stores with policies like that change, we need to hold them accountable; good local journalism does that, when it’s properly supported.
(Also, on a much more minor note: Adam seems to be turning into a kind of Kevin-Angela-Andy hybrid: It’s like he’s what would have happened to Andy if he had actually married Angela, but he also has the intelligence of Kevin—the little Also News encouragement piece Ned makes up for him is exactly like the fake work Angela used to give him.)
ROMANCE WATCH:
Mare and Ned (Nare? Or Med?)
The title of this episode, “Buddy and the Dude,” is a direct reference to the awkward platonic nicknames Ned and Mare assign each other at the end of the episode—Mare is Buddy, and Ned is The Dude. This, frustrating though it may be, is a great dynamic to open with for any TV pairing: seeing how well a couple operates as friends is the best possible foundation for a romantic pairing, because it ensures that there is authenticity and real connection in the relationship beyond the romantic elements.
These two have connections for DAYS. It’s often difficult to describe why characters have chemistry, even if there are a few things that link them on paper (ha) like “mutual love of old newsprint media.” Jim and Pam were like this too: Name one tangible thing they have in common that we knew about between seasons one and four. (It might not be impossible, but it’s harder than you would have expected, isn’t it?)
You sort of just have to hold up a collection of actions over time and go “aren’t they cute?” to fully paint the picture. In this episode, I’ve got:
Ned, reacting to Esmeralda’s accusatory “She’s your favorite!” with more embarrassment than a middle school boy whose mom just asked if that was his crush over there.
Mare, making wry little comments about the things Ned does when he gets excited—with the exact same tone and facial expression that Leslie Knope would use on Ben Wyatt when nerded out about Accounting or the Cones of Dunshire.
The two of them, doing their dorky little happy dance together when they realize they’ve cracked this mattress story wide open.
Some of these things, individually, don’t really make or break a perfect on-screen relationship, but they’re an extremely solid foundation to build the rest of the show on. They show that:
Ned respects Mare just as much professionally as he does romantically—how much he respects her professionally is kinda part of it.
As much as she makes fun of him, Mare thinks Ned is adorable too—her comments notice pretty specific things about the way he emotes.
These two have awesome chemistry working together...as long as those projects are not romantic in the slightest (because god knows what was going on with the couple they were pretending to be, but it sure as heck wasn’t romance.)
I cannot wait to see where they go with these two.
Detrick and Nicole (Nictrick)
These two together haven’t really clicked for me yet, but their antics in this episode were a little bit cute. It’s very obvious that Nicole has some serious issues when it comes to intimacy and opening up. Detrick, conversely, opens up way too easily and way too much, in a way that might even freak out a woman without intimacy issues. They’re opposites, but right now they’re not exactly opposites that seem to attract.
Nicole actually does an excellent job summing up the problem when she explains that her type is typically know-it-alls who don’t really like her: He’s a know-nothing who likes her way too much.
This game is an attempt to rectify at least one of those issues—at least if Detrick knows something about her, he can learn to show her he likes her in more appropriate ways. The problem is that Nicole, as she said in the last episode, turns to jelly as a form of protection—and in addition to that, it seems like the second someone knows something real about her, she melts away. Thus far, this hasn’t been a comfortable back-and-forth to watch, because Nicole has been so actively uncomfortable.
What’s interesting this time, though, is that Detrick finally recognizes this about her when she shares something even the average person would probably consider too much…and he shows her that in the sweetest way possible: By letting her take it back.
So maybe he’s not actually a know-nothing after all.
NEW: Marv and Ann???
Here’s one I didn’t see coming: Marv is in love with his assistant, Ann. The pair were on screen together for under a minute, and yet several things are plain as day:
Ann is one of the sweetest ladies who ever lived. I cannot wait to see more of her.
Marv is deeply in love with her, and it’s likely mutual.
No, they have never said one word to one another about it.
Ann is often the one holding on to Marv’s brain cells.
Their relationship actually reminds me a little bit of Jay Pritchett’s adorable relationship with his assistant Margaret on Modern Family—only Marv is a loveable weirdo instead of a grumpy old man, and Ann is the organized one instead of being a chaotic possible furry (I'm 99% sure) who sometimes wakes up next to an empty tub of ice cream.
Every single interaction they have is adorable. I’d write them all out, but they’re so short I’d basically just be rewriting the scene. The single “You okay?” he asks her when she’s on screen with him truly says it all.
As far as chemistry on this show goes, Mare and Ned might be great, but they are not even a close second to whatever is going on between these two. I’m obsessed with them. I cannot wait for more.
This has also finally allowed me to put Marv’s pieces together: He’s not the buttoned-up, no-nonsense businessman that I thought he was. He’s a kind, savvy guy who never quite knows what’s going on around him; he needs another person to keep him tethered to the earth or he’ll just float away. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorites.
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