It's interesting that you read them as roommates. I totally read them as a couple. Also, the episodes get longer in later seasons and the later cameos that earlier protagonists make in the series serve to really flesh out the world that Blichfeld and Sinclair are creating.
Later episodes remind me a lot of "Louie" as…

When a non sequitur episode like "Pierrot le fou" presents itself, the viewer loses, to a degree, the desire for a tidy resolution with respect to the plot of the episode. Whoever was the mind behind this episode took advantage of that loose approach from the viewer to accomplish a subtle semiotic resolution to Mad's…