What I’m Watching: Outmatched (Series Finale)

Outmatched: Season 1, Episode 10 “Royal Rumble” (C)

This show hasn’t officially been cancelled, but given that it’s now aired all of its filmed episodes and most well-regarded series are going to be experiencing production delays due to the current situation, I can’t imagine anyone is going to be clamoring for this show to return. As it’s gone on, it’s felt increasingly choreographed, and the three older children looking on and then walking over to their newly-approved potential guardians was one such moment that just felt painfully scripted and staged. I’ve noted multiple times that the incorporation of Rita and Irwin into the storyline has been one of the most clunky and least effective elements of this show, and having them as the assumed guardians who had never been asked was only moderately entertaining, mainly because it was so obvious from the start that it was going to lead to them wanting to do it. Mike and Kay lying to their youngest daughter about her birthday seemed just plain odd – and unsustainable, given that it’s not hard to check and theoretically would have come up – but it led to a revelation that supports the inkling that this show, like this character, is actually much smarter than it seems. Leila being a secret genius who just pretends to be dumb so that she can do as she pleases is an interesting twist, though one that comes far too late in a show that hasn’t shown much intelligence to be taken too seriously. I like what Maggie Lawson and Jason Biggs were doing on this show, and I look forward to seeing what they do next in a project that isn’t this.

Season grade: B-
Season MVP: Maggie Lawson as Kay