Take Three: The Big C

The Big C: Season 1, Episode 3 “There’s No C in Team” (B)

If nothing else, this show is quirky and entertaining. There’s something about Cathy’s spirit that makes her extremely unique, but I’m still not entirely into it. The way she interacts with everyone in her life is something that makes her stand out to me. The main figures in her everyday life – her son, her husband, her brother, her neighbor, and her student – are all such different people, yet she finds some way to take in their outlook on life and respond to it in the way she finds most fitting. It’s particularly fascinating to see her respond to seeming acts of kindness, mostly from her husband since they’re not overflowing from anywhere else, and to have her interpret exactly what she thinks they really mean. Her attendance at the group meeting for cancer patients was both engaging and cringe-worthy, and having her be showered with “Team Cathy” food deliveries and support seems to make her quite irritable but produces some nice bits of comedy. Her introduction to her brother’s girlfriend was fun, and having her over for dinner was an even better (for audiences, not for her) idea. It’s cool to see how Andrea has taken to Cathy and started acting as her sort of surrogate protector, especially when it comes to her son. Seeing the two of them bond was unexpected and fun, in addition to Andrea nearly slapping Cathy’s racist neighbor silly. Cathy’s accidental run-in with her neighbor’s dog and subsequent cancer confession underlines just how much this show has to do with the impermanence of life and the value of taking advantage of the time you’re alive, and that’s something.