All Episodes Talk: Better Things

[possibilities]

CK getting consent from Silverman (who is not one of the people who complained) has nothing whatsoever to do with the allegations against him. Getting consent from one person doesn't mean he didn't get consent from the others. It's like saying "he had consensual sex with one person, so that means he didn't rape anyone else" It's a non-sequitor.

[Blissfool]

28 minutes ago, possibilities said:

CK getting consent from Silverman (who is not one of the people who complained) has nothing whatsoever to do with the allegations against him. Getting consent from one person doesn't mean he didn't get consent from the others. It's like saying "he had consensual sex with one person, so that means he didn't rape anyone else" It's a non-sequitor.

Five women have accused CK.

1 & 2: they were all hanging out. CK asked if he could masturbate. He did. They laughed and screamed then ran out when it was over.

3: they were working on a tv show together. He asked . She said no. Nothing happened. The show went on.

4: they were working on a tv show together. He asked. She went along with it. He masturbated while sitting at his desk.

5. Phone call. She could hear him masturbating.  No consent.

I have not read anything about blocked doors. And I'll give you that he was a successful comedian and they were up-and-coming so the power dynamic was askew, but I do see how the lines blur in this situation. I've always thought his comedy is gross. Now I know he is inappropriate and weird in real life, too, not just in his comedy act.

[possibilities]

We're getting way off topic for this thread, but it's been discussed elsewhere in detail. I didn't make up the stuff about blocking the door.

[sistermagpie]

3 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

Setting aside the left turn that this story line took compared to the usual middle-aged-single-female-asshole-kids-working-B-List-actress-mother-issues arcs that this show usually takes:

Sam was representative of all the women that CK (apparently) victimized.

Her ex was in her head against her (conscious) will, like CK (allegedly) forced himself onto his accusers.

Sam stood up against her ex by reaching out to him like CK's (alleged) victims stood up against him by Me Too'ing him (whether they were really victims and to what degree I'm not sure I accept, but that's a different topic).

Her ex was wackin' it and CK wacked it (that I believe).

Sam overcame her adversity as symbolized by throwing the boots in the trash can, representative of CK's (alleged) victims pretty much getting him thrown out of show business.

Of course, all the foregoing is my opinion, conjecture, interpretation, blah blah blah, fueled by a tummy full of Pino Grinot.  It just seemed like a weighty plot for this show.  After Life, it isn't.  I do like it, though...

But CK wasn't in anybody's head, he was in the room with them. He asked them if he could masturbate in front of them out of the blue. On the show it's Sam who has the impulse. Her ex isn't responsible for her sex dreams just because her brain put him in them.

I think the ep is about what all the other things this season area about: Sam's changing body chemistry making her do and feel gross, undignified things. She's the only one in the ep that's acting anything remotely like Louis CK since she's the one with the itch she's asking or help scratching and might feel ashamed about.

[xwordfanatik]

This toilet episode has been one of my favorites.  As a veteran of three colonoscopies thus far, I could relate.  Family history and all.

Frankie is a little bitch.  If she's anything like what Pamela had to deal with IRL, I'm sorry.  Little Duke is my favorite daughter.  

Sam's house is dreamy.  I love all the tile and the overall artwork.  Now, I just have to find out if that eat-everything toilet is for real.  I'm going to have my main bathroom remodeled this year.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E8: Easter

Quote

Sam helps Max and bakes for Phil. Written by Sarah Gubbins & Robin Ruzan; directed by Pamela Adlon.

Promo:

Clips:

Easter Bunny:

Meeting Esther:

Original air date: 4/18/19

Edited April 24, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Marci]

On 4/12/2019 at 12:35 PM, sistermagpie said:

I think she's focusing on the issue of aging and the often undignified things that go along with that, like colonoscopies, menopause, etc. 

Apparently. But the way this woman’s life is being presented is depressing. It’s like she has no control over anything, and her life is filled with unpleasantness.  Better things my ass.

[xwordfanatik]

22 hours ago, 17wheatthins said:

I'm sold.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/13/2019 at 10:47 AM, TVbitch said:

What was up with Sam's colonoscopy dream? Who was the guy who looked just like Louie CK? I don't care enough to try to analyze it. 

That's her (dead) father.  We've seen him  before, including this season.  And Duke saw him, too.

Edited April 16, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[athousandclowns]

On 4/6/2019 at 2:09 PM, Blissfool said:

I enjoy this show and, in turn, enjoy Pamela Adlon as an actress. However, this episode made me wonder if she really secretly supports Louis CK and if she only said she was "devasted" because it was the pc thing to say to protect her professional life.

When Max mentioned the nude photography, Phyl said, "Boys will be boys." I expected Sam to admonish that statement, but she didnt. 

Then the whole hotel room scene with the ex watching her and getting off on it seemed very Louis CK-ish to me.

It’s very interesting to try and figure out the support or lack of for LCK here.  It is blatant in Tig  Natero’s One Mississippi how they felt about him. 

Back on topic: I was scratching my head with the pulling over in the car to master bate scene.  Curious how many women who have been in a lack of control situation like that.  “ I can’t wait to get home have to pull over right here right now to relieve myself”   Makes me feel old and out of touch. 

I have  lost count how many colonoscopies I've had and see the humor but don’t know the extent shown was necessary.  

I have always like Pamela Adlon and this show but bratty kids getting to me. 

[justmehere]

Impressed in this episode (4/18) with the girl playing Duke. A lot going on for her without dialog, or very little of it, and her facial expressions conveyed so much.

Enjoyed Marion sticking up for Sam and being honest with Duke, much as it obviously hurt Duke to hear that her dad is so awful. The way she beamed at the reassurance that her mom loves her...

I love Celia Imrie, but Phil is out of control. She needs more focused care - an in-home caregiver. I did like her singing with the wife, sort of bonding in an odd way. She isn't entirely unsympathetic about getting involved with the woman's husband.

I need to see both girls who play Max and Frankie in something else. Every time those two are on screen I want to throttle them - or, at least send them to their rooms without any electronics for several days. They are beyond decency even for teenagers. There still have to be limits, even if you want to give your kids choices and freedom. (Frankie wasn't in much this episode, but they repeated last week's right after this one, with the concert-ticket scene at the top. Just a moment's reminder was enough.)

[xwordfanatik]

I just thought of something.  Has anyone said what the hand brace that Sam wears, is for?

[Ottis]

I loved the colonoscopy episode. Some of the stuff her girls do is pretty realistic for teenagers. They seem even less self aware than most, but still. 

The Easter episode wasn’t as good. A mish mash of things. I think a girl as smart as Duke would have needed more than Marion telling her her dad was awful to believe it. I’m sure she has seen a few examples of her dad not showing up, but that alone isn’t “awful.” Sometimes this show slings around labels and it needs to show more and tell less. 

[scrb]

I laughed a couple of times, Phil bumping that kid into the pool and then all those women giving her the stink eye for trying to steal the old man whose wife may be oblivious because of Alzheimer’s.

The old daughter is shooting posed shots of her friend.  Is she getting actual gigs?  Not if mom has to pay for the motel room.

But Sam’s so cool, willing to pay for her daughter to find herself.  Who knows, maybe she will be a star photographer after all.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Max continues to be a pill. She had the nerve to ask Sam to drive her to East LA, pay for a motel room, and then just tell her to go away (after whining, "You never support me!"). I wish Sam would kick her ass out so she had to get a job and realize just how much Sam has been supporting her financially and emotionally.

I know Phil has been shown to be a pain in the ass to Sam but I kind of assumed that being British meant she would have impeccable manners. This episode showed that is absolutely not true because her behavior at Walter's party was atrocious, even before she started screaming at Marion. Shoving a kid in the pool to get to an Easter egg first? That's like George Costanza shoving kids out of his way during a fire at a children's birthday party levels of selfishness.

She was also horrible for telling Duke that she told Sam to get an abortion and that Sam didn't want to marry Xander. There was no need for her to share that information with A CHILD. Poor Duke was so upset at the thought that Sam never loved Xander.

That's why I was fine with Marion telling Duke that her father is a jerk. From what we've seen of Xander, that's a pretty accurate description, not just the biased opinion of a sibling who is overprotective of his sister, and it was unfair for the onus of Sam and Xander's relationship on Sam.

Whatever faults that the girls may see in Sam (because obviously she isn't perfect), what Marion said was true - she is ALWAYS there for them. And as Veronica Mars told her dad, the hero is the one who stays. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for Sam to bite her tongue all these years and not tell her kids the truth about what a selfish dick their father is, to watch them idolize their irresponsible and absent father while they're screaming at her about whatever trivial crap they're upset about that day.

[Blissfool]

13 hours ago, scrb said:

The old daughter is shooting posed shots of her friend.  Is she getting actual gigs?  Not if mom has to pay for the motel room.

But Sam’s so cool, willing to pay for her daughter to find herself.  Who knows, maybe she will be a star photographer after all.

I wondered if Max is gonna become pregnant. In one scene Sam says, "Great. He f*cked her." In another scene Frankie is going on and on about Easter being a holiday that celebrates a woman's fertility. Can't remember if the two scenes were adjacent.

[sistermagpie]

19 hours ago, Ottis said:

The Easter episode wasn’t as good. A mish mash of things. I think a girl as smart as Duke would have needed more than Marion telling her her dad was awful to believe it. I’m sure she has seen a few examples of her dad not showing up, but that alone isn’t “awful.” Sometimes this show slings around labels and it needs to show more and tell less. 

I get the impression it's not just a few examples of his not showing up, it's a lifetime of it. She's old enough to start putting together the kind of guy who secretly buys her a phone to win her affection and tells her to keep it secret from her mom so he can talk to her and then doesn't use it to talk to her at all, which causes her so much distress she loses the phone. The only thing that's ever really been demanded of the guy as a parent, it seems, is to be halfway reliable or present and he's not.

19 hours ago, scrb said:

The old daughter is shooting posed shots of her friend.  Is she getting actual gigs?  Not if mom has to pay for the motel room.

It seemed like Max got an idea for a photo shoot that she thought was very artistic but was really just cliche and Sam praised her for "following through" on being an artist by helping her get the actual pictures taken. Helping here meaning that Sam tracked down and rented the motel room and drove Max over and hooked her up with a guy she (Sam) knew from her own work who was a professional. Max also slept with the guy who appreciated the bonus enough that he sent Sam flowers as an apology/thanks.

Hopefully this isn't adding up to Max being a success everything we've seen says she's a non-artist whose mom has connections.

[possibilities]

If Max gets pregnant... ye gods! Sam bought her a huge supply of condoms a few episodes ago. She clearly has access to contraception.

But Sam seems to expect exactly ZERO of any of her kids. She just accepted it that Max dropped out of school after almost no time. Now she's letting her live at home and do nothing, while Sam pays for her fun. She's PROUD of Max for being a spoiled brat. I don't understand Sam's parenting style.

But yes, she does care, and she is there for them. She's raising them to be rude, irresponsible, intolerable brats, but she doesn't ever abandon them, so she's way better than their horrible father.

Edited April 22, 2019 by possibilities

[cpcathy]

It seems Sam would be less stressed out and perhaps not need therapy if she had boundaries and more discipline for her kids. But then, I have cats and I let the one I love the most have his way every time!

Edited April 24, 2019 by cpcathy

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E9: The Unknown

Quote

Sam gets theatrical. Written by Sarah Gubbins; directed by Pamela Adlon.

Promo:

Clip: play rehearsal

Original air date: 4/25/19

Edited April 30, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/21/2019 at 11:50 PM, possibilities said:

If Max gets pregnant... ye gods! Sam bought her a huge supply of condoms a few episodes ago. She clearly has access to contraception.

I assume she left that supply back in Chicago.  No way could she have gotten her luggage plus all the stuff that Sam bought her home by herself.

[DiabLOL]

Well I just about fell into a deep sleep during tonight's ep. I guess Louis CKs dull self-indulgent ghost lives on. 

And of course she's decided to hook up with her creepy therapist because this edgelord of a show is all about showing appalling new scenarios.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Norm Lewis and Jon Jon Briones! Taylor Holland and Jimmy Smagula! I can tell you with 100% certainty that I would not leave a singalong led by Norm and Jon Jon to text a potential booty call.

Bonus: I didn't have to see Max or Frankie being obnoxious/spoiled/demanding whiners this week!

Edited April 26, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Door County Cherry]

Maybe because it was about theater but this was my favorite ep of the season.  No mom.  No kids.  Fun guest stars.

[gesundheit]

Yep, this was a great one! Except for the therapist button at the end. 

What even would Sam do with her children if she did a Broadway run? I was trying to come up with all sorts of scenarios in my head, naturally none of which included their actual father.

[xwordfanatik]

5 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

Maybe because it was about theater but this was my favorite ep of the season.  No mom.  No kids.  Fun guest stars.

I liked it, too.  Duke is the only kid I can stand.  Sam has an interesting life.

[Jeanne222]

I love Sam.  She is every woman!

[Ottis]

20 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

Maybe because it was about theater but this was my favorite ep of the season.  No mom.  No kids.  Fun guest stars.

And maybe because it was about theater, but I was bored out of my mind and I would have run away screaming from the sing a long at the end. I kept waiting for the various plot lines to mean something. None of it did, except I guess Sam is OK with a job on Broadway (her kids will never allow her to do it) and banging her therapist... for some reason. 

Edited April 27, 2019 by Ottis

[bilgistic]

My streaming version cut off before the end. What happened with the therapist? Details, please.

Where was Sam? Was she in NY? I was highly confused about that.

I thought the whole thing was so cringy, and I have a general affinity for this show. The Theater! Overacting! and loudly singing ye olde songs in a bar because We Are All Trained Actors and Singers, Therefore We Can Sinnnnnnnng! It made me so anxious!

[sistermagpie]

3 hours ago, Ottis said:

And maybe it was about theater, but I was bored out of my mind and I would have run away screaming from the sing a long at the end. I kept waiting for the various plot lines to mean something. None of it did, except I guess Sam is OK with a job on Broadway (her kids will never allow her to do it) and banging her therapist... for some reason. 

I don't think there was a single thing that held the whole ep together, but that was part of what I loved about it. The Sam/Mare thing seemed to be the most important thing. As Mare said, they had a connection but Sam wasn't ready to act on it and instead she went with somebody inappropriate but familiar, her therapist. So at the end she's in the middle of a crowd of people who should be her tribe and they're all enjoying themselves (I'm surprised by people finding the whole singalong etc. cringey because it just seems like such a normal thing for those people to do--people love singing Broadway show tunes, especially when they like singing enough to sing professionally!) but she's sitting there sad over a failed connection.

Maybe that also reflects the dream of being in a Broadway Show. Another great thing she'd like to do say she has done, but she won't.

In a way this woman is like the opposite of so many other people in her life. She offered her something and if Sam couldn't take it she was fine and just left. Her kids and her manager, otoh, are more demanding and guilt-tripping etc.

[QQQQ]

I don't know what to make of Sam and Mare, or what we're supposed to make of Sam and Mare. I think if the situation had been reversed, and a straight person were telling a gay person to acknowledge there's something between them, I would be angry or think 'how typical.'

[DiabLOL]

1 hour ago, QQQQ said:

I don't know what to make of Sam and Mare, or what we're supposed to make of Sam and Mare. I think if the situation had been reversed, and a straight person were telling a gay person to acknowledge there's something between them, I would be angry or think 'how typical.'

This was my reaction as well.

Also, I found Mare to be pretty aggressive actually and she seems like someone who sexualizes everything and sees getting someone into bed as an endgame if they connect with her. I always saw Sam as someone who liked her and it was no mystery why since her friendships with women were pretty difficult.

[Pepper Mostly]

I loved this episode. NORM LEWIS! (fanning self) alone made it great. I loved seeing Sam with her people, theater folk. She's an actor, its all she's ever been, but she seemed to connect in a deeper way with it by doing a live performance and I loved seeing that. She does dumb zombie movies and voice overs and commercials to pay the bills. Having the opportunity to go to Broadway with a play was like a revelation to her. I thought it was nice.  

[scrb]

23 hours ago, bilgistic said:

My streaming version cut off before the end. What happened with the therapist? Details, please.

Where was Sam? Was she in NY? I was highly confused about that.

I thought the whole thing was so cringy, and I have a general affinity for this show. The Theater! Overacting! and loudly singing ye olde songs in a bar because We Are All Trained Actors and Singers, Therefore We Can Sinnnnnnnng! It made me so anxious!

Yeah that’s my impression of the play.  The playwright tells them to tone it down but just about every character yells.

then the public performance, seem like a public table read.

In any event, it was well received so they will continue putting it on?  Presumably Sam doesn’t even come to NY in the first place if she wasn’t prepared to stay for the run.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, scrb said:

Yeah that’s my impression of the play.  The playwright tells them to tone it down but just about every character yells.

then the public performance, seem like a public table read.

In any event, it was well received so they will continue putting it on?  Presumably Sam doesn’t even come to NY in the first place if she wasn’t prepared to stay for the run.

It was a staged reading. Sam being in it didn't mean she'd have anything to do with the actual New York run--or that there even would be a New York run. That one night was the only commitment anyone had.

[pasdetrois]

I was bored by the Sam/Mare conversation and FFed. Not bored by the notion, just the lengthy conversation. It felt trite.

Otherwise I liked the episode because 1) no daughters. 2) Sam is an aging C-List Hollywood actress at this point in her career, reduced to commercials and cheap zombie movies. She's disdainful of the play's director, and has minimal expectations, yet the reading turned out to be a magical event - a rarity for her at this point. Extended by the camaraderie around the piano in the bar.

Given that the play might be produced in NYC, she's already thinking "no way can I do it." So her pleasure in the one-night reading is already dampened. Her agent dumps her, and she has to face whether she has feelings for Mare. I think the text to the psychiatrist was an act of giving up, or accepting the limitations in her life.

[TVbitch]

I felt like almost all of the scenes went on too long, which was also true on Louie. 

I think Sam was gaslighting Mare. You do not have to be gay to know that someone is flirting with you and likes you THAT WAY. First Sam acted incredulous, and then when Mare got very direct about it, instead of being equally clear that it wasn't gonna happen, Sam started pussyfooting. ...that term seems apt here. 

[scrb]

Spoiler

What would be the point for Sam or the play's producers for her to fly out for one-time read?

I thought good roles were tougher for older actresses so the play might be a welcome departure from voice-acting and doing that zombie movie or whatever.

Edited April 28, 2019 by scrb

[sistermagpie]

15 minutes ago, scrb said:

What would be the point for Sam or the play's producers for her to fly out for one-time read?

The one-time read is the only thing there is. The show isn't scheduled to get an actual production anywhere. The creators hope it will get that--that's what the staged reading is for. They might or might not cast people who did the reading in the actual play if they liked them so the actors would hope they'd get an offer at some point from doing the reading, but at this point Sam and the others are just performing an unproduced play with scripts for this one night with no promise of anything else for anyone involved.

Here are the union rules for actors in a staged reading from the Equity website, just for a sense of exactly what Sam was doing here:

Equity members may participate in a staged reading project, commonly known as a "29-Hour Reading," without benefit of an Equity Contract. Members may participate for a maximum of 29 hours (including both rehearsals and no more than three presentations) over the course of 14 days. No admission may be charged at the time of the readings, which may not use sets, props, wigs, make-up or costumes. The readings may not be advertised to the public or reviewed by critics.

20 minutes ago, scrb said:

I thought good roles were tougher for older actresses so the play might be a welcome departure from voice-acting and doing that zombie movie or whatever.

Absolutely. Like Sam herself said, she'd love to be able to say she'd performed on Broadway. Doesn't matter what she thinks of the play or the director.

[QQQQ]

10 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

The readings may not be advertised or reviewed by critics

I don't know anything about this world. Who is in the audience? Friends and family? Are they likely to give honest feedback? Or would-be financial backers? But then the play could be radically different with an all-new cast, so part of me is wondering... what's the point?

[luna1122]

On ‎04‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 1:27 PM, DiabLOL said:

This was my reaction as well.

Also, I found Mare to be pretty aggressive actually and she seems like someone who sexualizes everything and sees getting someone into bed as an endgame if they connect with her. I always saw Sam as someone who liked her and it was no mystery why since her friendships with women were pretty difficult.

Yeah, I don't know what to think of Sam and Mer either. Clearly, there's a connection, and Sam enjoyed the flirtation, but she already told her she's a straight chick (which Mer scoffed at, asking if straight was even a thing anymore, which is off-putting) who likes dick and isn't into women. I get that Mer feels she's being given mixed signals, but Sam's under no obligation to indulge in any sexual activity she's not actually ready to. But I'm unclear on whether we're SUPPOSED to think that Sam really does want to bang Mare and is just not ready to acknowledge it, or what, or if she's just indulging in a little fantasy, which might not be fair to Mer.

I liked the stage read, I thought it was a lot of fun. and Mark Feuerstein has always been actor I just never found especially attractive but I did on this episode; not sure why the diff, but I kept thinking 'well, hello, there'.

[sistermagpie]

14 hours ago, QQQQ said:

I don't know anything about this world. Who is in the audience? Friends and family? Are they likely to give honest feedback? Or would-be financial backers? But then the play could be radically different with an all-new cast, so part of me is wondering... what's the point?

The actual production wouldn't just have a potentially different cast, it would have costumes and sets and a director etc. The reading is just to hear the script. 

The people invited depend on what the playwright's looking for. Some are just informal and are about hearing it read aloud so the audience can be anybody invited by people in the show etc.--I assumed they'd already done some of those and that's why the guy started off telling them he wasn't looking for suggestions because they already were getting good feedback etc. The audience wouldn't necessarily be asked what they thought specifically. They could just be there reacting in the moment.

This seemed to be at the stage where the audience were people who could take some action to get an actual production going so it was industry people, I guess potential backers too? I'm not sure how that works. But that must be why Sam could know that she might be considered for a role on Broadway.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Plays go through many iterations before ever reaching Broadway so this might be just one in a series of readings. After the readings come workshops (which have basic direction, costumes, sets, choreography) and then an out of town production and/or an off-Broadway production. After all that, the show MIGHT end up going to Broadway.

At any of these stages, cast changes can be made. Sometimes there will be actors who stay with the role for the entire process (which can take years), but it is not uncommon to recast at different stages (sometimes an actor isn't the right fit, sometimes the chemistry isn't there, sometimes so much time has passed that the actor has committed to another project and is unavailable). There is never any guarantee that even if the show eventually makes it to Broadway that any of the actors will still be with the show by then.

Just as an example, Phillipa Soo was involved with productions of The Great Comet (2 off Broadway versions in 2012 and 2013), Amélie (2012 workshop, 2016 Los Angeles production, 2017 Broadway), and Hamilton (2014 workshop, 2015 off Broadway, and Broadway).

She was in the very early workshops for Amélie in 2012 and then she was in the off Broadway productions of The Great Comet in 2012 & 2013. She was then involved in the second workshop for Hamilton in 2014 and then the 2015 off Broadway Hamilton production and the Broadway show.

When her Hamilton contract was up in 2016, she was offered the main roles in both Amélie (which had done an out of town production at Berkeley Rep with Samantha Barks in 2015 while Phillipa was still in Hamilton) and The Great Comet. This just goes to show how different the length of the journey to Broadway can be. Amélie had early workshops in 2012 but didn't actually get to Broadway until 2017. Eight of the cast members from the first out of town production in Berkeley were also in the Broadway cast, but there were five cast members who were replaced for the second out of town try out in Los Angeles.

Similarly, there were nine actors at the Vassar workshop of Hamilton. Only three of them went on to the off Broadway cast. But from the off Broadway cast, only one change was made before Broadway (and that was due to Brian D'arcy James being cast in Something Rotten). And timewise, Hamilton took about two years to go from workshop to off Broadway to Broadway.

That was my longwinded version of saying that you never know what will happen when someone wants to take a play to Broadway. The entire cast could change or they might keep everyone. It could get to Broadway quickly or it could take years. Even though I hope that Sam gets to perform on Broadway, I think she knows better than to get her hopes up too much after just one reading. There is no guarantee that anything will come of this.

Edited April 30, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E9 inside the episode:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E10: Show Me the Magic

Quote

Sam winds down and reminisces. Written by Pamela Adlon & Ira Parker; directed by Pamela Adlon.

Promo:

Dinner party:

Predator poop:

Original air date: 5/2/19

Edited May 12, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[QQQQ]

I'm enjoying learning about the evolution of a play moreso than watching most episodes of this season. I wish Better Things devoted even more time to showing us Sam's working world and less on her icky children.

[Ottis]

From the "Behind the Scenes" Video: I hadn't realized Sam had 'confronted" her friend about dating a much younger woman. She let him know he was a cliche, but aside from that she let him be. As she should. If she were dating a 25yo I doubt the show would care much. It didn't care much with the young doctor in the colonoscopy ep (no, she didn't ask him out, but if he had asked her out, would she have said no?).

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Even though I hope that Sam gets to perform on Broadway, I think she knows better than to get her hopes up too much after just one reading. There is no guarantee that anything will come of this.

I think she also realizes that the demands from her kids would never allow her to actually do a long play run. She mostly seems to just be going with the flow, like she does 90% of the time.

[sistermagpie]

3 hours ago, Ottis said:

From the "Behind the Scenes" Video: I hadn't realized Sam had 'confronted" her friend about dating a much younger woman. She let him know he was a cliche, but aside from that she let him be. As she should. If she were dating a 25yo I doubt the show would care much. It didn't care much with the young doctor in the colonoscopy ep (no, she didn't ask him out, but if he had asked her out, would she have said no?).

She called him out on pretending that he didn't specifically prefer this girl because she was young. I'd call that more confrontational. 

3 hours ago, Ottis said:

I think she also realizes that the demands from her kids would never allow her to actually do a long play run. She mostly seems to just be going with the flow, like she does 90% of the time.

Sam's kids demands seem like they could ruin almost anything, but why would doing a play be impossible because of them? I can imagine them just saying no because they refuse to move to New York, but a play schedule doesn't seem like it would be bad day to day. (But maybe you did mean they would just say no, they refused to move--and Sam, unlike hopefully most actors, would give in to them.)

[pasdetrois]

I thought Sam was warming to her old friend - wasn't he paying her lots of compliments? It seemed like mutual flirting lite. Then the bimbo walks in and Sam has a hard jolt of reality. She was disappointed a little bit, but also resigned.

Edited April 30, 2019 by pasdetrois

[Ottis]

1 hour ago, sistermagpie said:

Sam's kids demands seem like they could ruin almost anything, but why would doing a play be impossible because of them? I can imagine them just saying no because they refuse to move to New York, but a play schedule doesn't seem like it would be bad day to day. (But maybe you did mean they would just say no, they refused to move--and Sam, unlike hopefully most actors, would give in to them.)

I was picturing more that every time Sam was about to take the stage for the play, one of her kids would call her with a "crisis" or need. Shooting a movie seems to give Sam enough time to deal with that. Being locked down for a play every night would pose a problem, I think.

1 hour ago, sistermagpie said:

She called him out on pretending that he didn't specifically prefer this girl because she was young. I'd call that more confrontational. 

That was one of the most polite confrontations ever! She noted he did, he said he didn't plan on it. It is what it is. As a man over 50, dating someone that young would drive me nuts. It also feels a bit desperate. But whatever works for them, I guess. I much prefer Sam's "my people."

Edited April 30, 2019 by Ottis