What I’m Watching: Easy

Easy: Season 1, Episode 5 “Art and Life” (B-)

With only three episodes left to go and the most exciting guest stars yet to appear, I feel like I need to stick with this show until the end of its run. This episode was a moderate improvement over the past two installments, and it did deal with a more normative sense of romance that came about in an unexpected way. I’ve heard of IFC’s show “Maron” but had no idea who its star and creator, Marc Maron, was and what he looked like. In the opening scene of the episode, he looked a lot like Robert DeNiro, though listening to his voice for even a moment demonstrated that it was not the case. Maron’s Jacob showed himself to be an utterly unlikeable, self-involved illustrator whose use of his real life as inspiration for his published works is far from endearing. That was drawn out in a big way when Allison took a photo of him without his permission and used it in her show, prompting some spirited debate between the two of them – and captured on a handful of smartphones – about what constitutes art and how relevant privacy is in this day and age. I’m not familiar with actress Emily Ratajkowski either, but I couldn’t have been more thrilled to see Jane Adams, who should really star in everything, as Annabelle Jones. The conversations in this episode were intriguing and speak to what this show is supposed to be about, but I’m still waiting for an episode that, like the first two, feels much more rounded and romantic.