What I’m Watching: Better Things

Better Things: Season 3, Episode 2 “Holding” (B)

This episode reminded me most of the half-hour from season two where Sam’s costar had to sputter over and over to sound like a car in take after take. Sam was hot to begin with, and then her having to cough under a pile of bodies in a zombie movie made the experience even more unbearable, though she kept a cooler head than her angry zombie costar. I recognized the insufferable director, played by Kris Marshall, from his role as an overeager tourist in “Love Actually,” and the woman who got more of his attention than Sam was Janina Gavankar, who guest-starred on “You’re the Worst” just recently. Marsha Thomason, from “Lost” and “White Collar,” was Dante’s manager, the only truly tolerable person Sam met on set aside from the kindly Sylvester. With Max off at college whining to Sam that she’s allergic to vinyl and needs an off-campus apartment, something her mother wouldn’t even consider, we got to see that Sam’s youngest daughter is emanating her older sisters. Duke, once the innocent co-honoree of the fake funeral with her mother, is now just as embarrassed by her as Frankie, though I’ll actually take her side on this one given how Sam chose to go after Jack’s mom to demand an apology from her and then tell her to come meet her in the parking lot. The angry looks and comments she got from the fathers were particularly entertaining, and I like that she didn’t even try to back down and concede to either of them.