What I’m Watching: Difficult People

Difficult People: Season 1, Episode 6 “Even Later” (B+)

This episode had me laughing quite a bit, mainly because of the banter that Billy and Julie have and the moments in which they essentially tune everyone around them out to indulge in their own personal conversations about nothing at all. Their ability to procrastinate is truly impressive, and while the fact that they constantly acknowledge the reality that they haven’t yet done anything because of a new potential distraction they’ve thought of is a bit irritating, that’s what makes this show work. I particularly appreciated Billy’s enthusiasm at the necessity of having a recap of late night television. The two of them really are on their own planet, but those closest to them are fully aware of that and treat them as such. Arthur letting Julie know what he plans to make for dinner and telling her to text him if she doesn’t want that was the perfect platform for her to respond, “Consider yourself texted,” almost a setup for her to turn down his more sophisticated palate for something far less pretentious and complicated. I’m glad that the show didn’t dwell on Julie being pregnant even though she did, but she also had a considerably different reaction from what many sitcom potentially expectant mothers have traditionally had, asking strange questions about the things prevalent in her mind. I love that they turned down the job from Jon Glaser’s lackadaisical executive who just wanted to lazily promote diversity, and that it turns out that they had been published in the shockingly real Huffington Post print edition.