What I’m Watching: Divorce

Divorce: Season 1, Episode 4 “Mediation” (B+)

At the start of this episode, I wasn’t too sure about it since I think that Frances’ office meltdown during which she kept a bunch of people with a birthday cake waiting outside the conference room and poured out her heart to a random underling felt forced. Ultimately, this show does best when it features its two characters together in the same scene, filled with so much resentment but trying to put a brave, if sarcastic, face. Robert’s solo scenes worked better, as he found out that he was beyond broke from the accountant that he pays hourly and could only get store credit for returned workout equipment. His latest trip to see Nick brought up some anger from Diane, and he responded in kind by telling her that he was having trouble being comfortable around her since she tried to shoot him. Robert freaking out in the restaurant because the salad was separate and the ice cream could cost twelve cents instead of twelve dollars if they had it at home was funny, and he brought things to a serious, okay place when he cut to the chase in the middle of Frances’ sugarcoating. He actually did a good job of conveying what was happening, though it seems the kids were well aware of their troubles and their impending separation. Finding out that he could get much more and that he shouldn’t be going about this so civilly led to an unfortunate final scene which signals that he’s done playing nice, which is sure to lead to plenty of antics. The most hilarious moment of this episode was when Julian explained to Frances that Robert had been sending her photos of a baguette with a knife in it and continuing to insist that he was going to take down her French lover.