What I’m Watching: Family Tree

Family Tree: Season 1, Episode 4 “Country Life” (B-)

This episode was a bit erratic for me, which is saying something considering how this entire show has been thus far. Journeying out to the country to visit some distant relatives who might not actually be nearly as distant as they’re supposed to be (and I don’t trust Tom’s calculations of how the genealogy he thinks he understands connects one bit) could be fun, but it was just a little too weird and unfulfilling in this hour. There was too much of a spotlight on Luba, whose stories about Moldovan customs were far from entertaining and just off-putting. Bea didn’t get a chance to do much with Monk, which was a shame, and instead it was all about Tom nearly having to perform a crude neutering while Pete spent the entirety of the episode doing his best to initiate a cross-breeding of his own at his work. I like the fact that this show is offbeat, but this episode just wasn’t on the same page as the rest. Tom Skyping with his American cousins, one of whom looks an awful lot like Ed Begley Jr., a trusted Christopher Guest regular, was a bright spot, since it foreshadows a trip by Tom to the United States, which might prove just a bit more worthwhile than this particular voyage to the countryside. On a positive note, it was fun to see Keith bond with his cousin about their love for similar TV shows after an uncertain start to their conversation while their children were outside getting their hands dirty.