S1.E1: Empty Best

[Guest]

Premieres October 27, 2019

Quote

On the day before her son leaves for college, Eve Fletcher has to deal with some inappropriate behavior in the workplace; Brendan runs into an ex-girlfriend at a party.

[scrb]

Ok the picture is obvious.  Eve married and divorced an asshole,  raised an asshole.

Because she’s been a doormat all her life.

All the teens mock her about the impending empty nest because she’s so thirsty over Brendan?

Wait until the kid whom Brendan bullied finds out its Brendan’s mom, who apparently is now open to acting out MILF porn fantasies.

Well it’s one way to discover your best self — but for her or the kid?

[AnimeMania]

Super tame episode, way to alienate people looking for hot MILF action or a funny sex comedy. We understand why she wants to make a change with this first episode, but that won't hook anybody into wanting to watch the entire series.

[Wouldofshouldof]

I kept having dejavu watching this.  What did I see recently where 1) The mom overheard the son saying disgusting things to his GF and she had to have a talk with him, and 2) The kid the son is a dick to ends up "getting with" the mom?  Did anyone else recognize these plot points?  I actually had to ask myself, Wait, have I already seen this?

[esco1822]

9 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

We understand why she wants to make a change with this first episode, but that won't hook anybody into wanting to watch the entire series.

I'd watch Kathryn Hahn read the phone book. She's awesome and deserves top billing, finally. I can't count how many times she has been the best thing about a show or movie. She's enough for me to give a few episodes a shot, I hope everyone else feels the same way. 

[scrb]

7 hours ago, Wouldofshouldof said:

I kept having dejavu watching this.  What did I see recently where 1) The mom overheard the son saying disgusting things to his GF and she had to have a talk with him, and 2) The kid the son is a dick to ends up "getting with" the mom?  Did anyone else recognize these plot points?  I actually had to ask myself, Wait, have I already seen this?

Supposedly Tom Perotta wrote the book this is based on after The Leftovers.  It sounded like he wrote this story as an antidote or something to The Leftovers.

Also sounds like he's directly involved in this show, more than he was with The Leftovers.

I think he was on NPR Fresh Air last week.

[Moxie Cat]

14 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

but that won't hook anybody into wanting to watch the entire series.

I must respectfully disagree. I don't know anything about this book or Perotta, and while I like Hahn, I hadn't planned on watching the show. But it came on after Silicon Valley, and I got sucked into it. Maybe because I'm a forty-something single woman too and there aren't a lot of shows about us. I don't need, as you put it, "hot MILF action" or a "funny sex comedy" to enjoy it. But a story that shows the real alienation and wistfulness of single women of a certain age resonates with many of us out here, I can assure you. Yeah, maybe it won't be popular enough to last for six seasons but it's not intended to.

It did confirm my suspicion that I'm awful lucky to not have a teenage son or ex-husband!

[archer1267]

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but that won't hook anybody into wanting to watch the entire series.

I read the book and admit, I don't remember 100% of it, but this first episode was true to what I remember. I wish it'd been more than a half-hour episode, but think it did a good job at setting up the premise. And I don't know how many single moms would be ready to throw down right away after their kid goes to college, having dedicated their lives to raising them and focusing on them. Anyone watching for the MILF sex - give it a chance, it's coming up!

If I hadn't read the book, I may have still watched the show, because as others have said, I've enjoyed Kathryn Hahn in other roles and I also liked what I've seen of Tom Perrotta adaptations (Election, Little Children).

[msrachelj]

Her son is such a piece of shit, I don't know if I can keep watching. What a nasty bully, no respect for woman asshole. I can only hope he gets the shit beat out of him in college. Was that the same girl from the party who he sent the dick pic to?  And really, moms  gonna get with a 17 or 18 year old kid? So far, not liking it but will keep watching.

[veronicalodge44]

yeah, i have to say that i had read somewhere that the premiere was "good but sad" - and i found myself hoping that her son was going to get into an accident and get killed.  i have nephews just barely older than him and while they are irreverent and have their partying moments, they are lovely and loving.  i just found him such a dick that i wanted to punch his face in.  i wouldn't mind at all if he doesn't appear very often in future episodes.  i would love to just watch mrs. fletcher get her groove back, hang out with her best friend, and well, really anything that doesn't involve her ex- or her son...

[Empress1]

On 10/29/2019 at 2:17 PM, msrachelj said:

Was that the same girl from the party who he sent the dick pic to? 

Yes, she apologized for "being mean" at the party. I was waiting for the twist where she ... I don't know, humiliated or cussed him out or something. I've been sent a lot of dick pics, all unsolicited (I'm on a couple of dating apps; men really like to send unsolicited dick pics. Please stop it, men), and they have never ever made me want to jump on the dick in question. I was like ... that's it? She's seen his dick before; they've had sex. He treats her like shit, sends her a picture of his dick, which, I will reiterate, she has seen before, and all is forgiven and she just shows up and blows him? What? (I know this wasn't the point of the episode, but I was so bothered by it.)

My TiVo recorded this as a suggestion (I watch a lot of premium cable dramas), and I'll try one more episode. I like Katherine Hahn and Tom Perotta, and I do think the subject matter is interesting.

[tennisgurl]

I love Kathryn Hahn so I am intrigued as to where this goes. Eve is clearly lonely and sad and a bit of a doormat, but hopefully she can grow after this and find some purpose in life. I think thats a story we dont get to see very often on television (women over 40 interested in sex are usually played for laughs at how "gross" that is) and I am interested in seeing where it goes. 

Her son is a piece of work, but I think that what the other teen says will be prophetic, that a lot of college types wont go for his alpha male act, and he might have to mature. I also wonder how much his dad apparently checking out of his life has affected his behavior, even if he has an apparently attentive mom.

[piccadilly83]

On 10/28/2019 at 2:00 AM, AnimeMania said:

Super tame episode, way to alienate people looking for hot MILF action or a funny sex comedy.

It's hard for me to call anything tame that has full frontal footage of explicit sex acts. I'm like some of the other posters in that I like Kathryn Hahn. I don't even know how this show got onto my Amazon Prime watch list. I must have added it upon seeing Hahn in the thumbnail. The son is a jerk, but he's a believable jerk, sadly enough.

11 hours ago, Empress1 said:

On 10/29/2019 at 11:17 AM, msrachelj said:

Was that the same girl from the party who he sent the dick pic to? 

Yes, she apologized for "being mean" at the party. I was waiting for the twist where she ... I don't know, humiliated or cussed him out or something. I've been sent a lot of dick pics, all unsolicited (I'm on a couple of dating apps; men really like to send unsolicited dick pics. Please stop it, men), and they have never ever made me want to jump on the dick in question. I was like ... that's it? She's seen his dick before; they've had sex. He treats her like shit, sends her a picture of his dick, which, I will reiterate, she has seen before, and all is forgiven and she just shows up and blows him? What? (I know this wasn't the point of the episode, but I was so bothered by it.)

This part I did not believe, or at least I did not get. This girl has enough awareness to shut out the son when she unexpectedly runs into him at the party and doesn't buy any of his excuses but then changes her mind less than twenty-four hours later because he sent her a dick pic? Huh? I guess we're supposed to believe that she always wanted to hook up with him, but was just being stubborn the night of the party? The problem is, I don't know many (read: any) women who are aroused by the sight of a dick pic. I don't know. That just made no sense to me.

[Cheezwiz]

On 11/1/2019 at 11:40 PM, piccadilly83 said:

This girl has enough awareness to shut out the son when she unexpectedly runs into him at the party and doesn't buy any of his excuses but then changes her mind less than twenty-four hours later because he sent her a dick pic? Huh?

Yes, THIS. This part really bothered me. I was waiting for some kind of surprise twist where she would humiliate him in a devious clever way, and wound up very disappointed - the writing made no sense. I'm saying it loudly so the back of the room can hear: NOBODY LIKES UNSOLICITED DICK PICS.

Will continue watching, because I love Kathryn Hahn, and have really enjoyed all of the adaptations made from Tom Perotta's books.

And kudos, I guess, to the kid playing her son, because he really does seem like a 100% believable asshole. Hoping he'll get payback at college, but people like that rarely do.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Cheezwiz