What I’m Watching: Casual (Season Finale)

Casual: Season 1, Episode 10 “Dave” (B+)

What a terrific first season this has been, and what a great finale on which to send it off before it returns on Hulu sometime next year for a well-deserved second season. It didn’t seem like things could end up in a good place at the start of the episode when Alex drove off after finding Valerie and Emmy in bed together. Watching him try to drive his car straight into a wall when he found out that the dog he temporarily owned had been put down was frightening, and of course it would be just his luck that the car would have automatic braking installed so that he couldn’t actually crash. What I enjoyed most about Alex getting back to a good place was how Leon stepped up and assured him that they were in fact friends, despite Alex’s assertion that he just showed up whenever he wanted to take advantage of Leon’s good nature. Laura reacting negatively to the news that Valerie had done the same thing to Alex as she had done to her, with much fuller knowledge of her misdeed, was not surprising, but fortunately, everyone, including Alex, was in a forgiving mood. The only one who lost was Emmy, who for a moment seemed to be very out of character when she protested to Alex that Valerie was attacking her and trying to drive them apart. For someone so casual about sex, you’d think she would brush off those feelings too. I do think Eliza Coupe was terrific this season, and her scene in this episode in which she explained to Valerie that she was the one who initiated things was an excellent showcase of her work. It’s impossible to pick an MVP for this season since all three actors are so tremendous, and I hope this show gets the awards season showing it deserves.

Season grade: A-
Season MVP: All three