Emmy Episodes: Mom

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the sixth year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Mom: Season 8, Episode 18 “My Kinda People and The Big To-Do” (C+)

I never would have known if I hadn’t read before I watched this that this was the series finale of this long-running show, in part because it doesn’t feel particularly tethered to anything and I also have no concept of the significance of developments as someone who has only ever seen five episodes of this show. Though this review is going up right after that of the installment two before this one, I watched them about a month apart, and there wasn’t much to connect the two aside from the romance between Jill and Andy, who are now apparently getting married after a high-stress run-in at the bank a few episodes back. This is, of course, the Emmy submission for star Allison Janney, who’s back in the race after a few years off, and while she’s just as good as always, there’s nothing particularly flashy or all that memorable about this showcase. It’s hardly her turn to win anyway, given the prominence of Jean Smart in “Hacks” and other memorable turns in her category this year. I did enjoy recognizing Melanie Lynskey, whose Shannon is quite puzzlingly a brand-new character, and that helped things come full-circle for me since she starred on the first Chuck Lorre sitcom I ever watched regularly, “Two and a Half Men.” I liked that show back at the start but didn’t stick around too long, and this show, for as little as I’ve sampled it, isn’t one that I feel any need to go back and try getting into at any point.