What I’m Watching: Better Things

Better Things: Season 1, Episode 6 “Alarms” (B+)

As this show goes on, it’s becoming more and more about Sam’s life and her dealing with whatever is thrown at her. While that’s what a lot of shows are technically about, I’m paying this series a compliment since it’s less structured and instead just goes with the flow and tackles the latest obstacle in Sam’s happiness. The first part of the episode had to do with her being one of the peers, interacting with friends like Diedrich Bader’s Pats and Alysia Reiner’s Sunny, who are all on the same level as she is. The casual talk of disease and dating felt very comfortable, yet there’s still plenty of disagreement to be found, even among friends. It felt strange to watch Sam in a sitcom, though it was quickly revealed that she was just shooting a pilot, one that she cared far less about than her cocky TV husband and her horny TV son, both of whom made very inappropriate comments to her about how attractive she was. Telling Sam that it was weird that she was playing his mom since he would hook up with her was awkward enough, but getting overly excited in the car was pretty horrifying. Sam just moved on with her life, and then had to deal with her mother, a unique influence who didn’t bother to deprogram her alarm when she walked in to her house and couldn’t be bothered to clean off even one surface. If the end of the episode was any indication, some good old American vodka might do the trick.