Take Three: Life and Beth

Life and Beth: Season 1, Episode 3 “Out on the Island” (B+)

The many flashbacks we’re getting to a younger Beth are informative, even as they no longer include her mother but instead look at how romance for her has been shaped. Going on a walk with someone when she was ready to go to second base – a concept she seriously misunderstood – turned into him being with someone else, and she had to pivot to make it look like she wasn’t embarrassed from an early age. It’s good to see her finally standing up for herself, years later, even if everyone else in her office continues to be entirely insensitive and accost her for breaking up with Matt when her mother had just died. He wasn’t too mature or kind when he sad she was bad at sex and that he hadn’t even wanted to go out with her initially, and then he reached a new low when he showed up on horseback to force her to get back together with him, whatever that was meant to be. I like that he said he was counting to three and then just kept going, ultimately riding off into the trees at thirteen before getting thrown off. I enjoyed the introduction of Michael Cera as John the groundskeeper, who assured Beth that the horse would turn and suggested to her that she was an introvert. He doesn’t have much in the way of social skills but seems to see her so much more than anyone else. It was also fun to see Jon Glaser as the very unfriendly Gerald, who immediately pegged Beth as someone invading from the city and then warmed to her before misidentifying a moscato as a non-dessert wine.