What I’m Watching: Casual

Casual: Season 3, Episode 6 “Troubleshooting” (B+)

This episode was fun because it saw each of our protagonists encounter familiar situations, go down the usual roads, and then end up taking a different approach that served as a better choice. Alex did not do well on his first day at his new job, though the fact that he got reported to HR and the Oahu native didn’t for the way she spoke to him is absolutely ridiculous. I like that he didn’t give up right away and that he managed to make a new friend in Judy Greer’s Judy, who is the only person who doesn’t think Eric is the greatest thing on earth. It would be an HR nightmare if something happened between him and the woman who’s in charge of HR, but maybe they can just be friends. I loved Val’s response to the woman who accosted her in the bar because the bartender turned out to be her boyfriend, not apologetic and very defendable in her explanation that there’s no way she could have known that he was dating someone. Rekindling her friendship slash relationship with Jack seems like a positive step so far, even if it did come at the expense of Jennifer’s trust in her, something that I imagine can be earned back pretty quickly. Laura fell into the same old trap when she slept with her supervisor on day one and then quit because he got fired for it, but good for her for walking out the moment that he refused to listen to her when she asked him to consider her comfort for a moment. Coming back to work is a positive step – maybe this will actually be good for her!