Calling this show a comedy has never felt entirely accurate, especially when it features an ending like this one that shows that its characters from all three generations aren’t feeling at all resolved about what happened over the course of this episode. I remember the untimely death of Ally’s father being one of the most poignant moments of season one, and here we got to start off comically with her mother, who insisted on pronouncing a hard “t” in dementia and lecturing her children on how eating makes you fat. Like Ally, I thought she was just feigning nervousness about the security of her situation to get to spend some time with her friendly neighbor, but that parting shot indicated that she is actually afraid. Similarly, Luke not sleeping was more than just keeping his phone on at night or falling behind in school, and Paul and Ally aren’t quite on the same page about how they want to proceed with him being officially diagnosed or taking medication to help concentrate and feel good. Paul flashing back to earlier memories with a younger Luke was sweet, particularly because, for once, he wasn’t yelling at his kids, and it enabled him to take a softer approach to helping him now. Paul’s father was perhaps the most comforting, assuring Paul that he turned out great and that he would know exactly what to do when he got to his son. Paul working through his anger has been a fascinating plotline, and it’s nice to see him shine and be there in just the way his kids need him to be.
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