What I’m Watching: Mrs. Fletcher (Series Finale)

Mrs. Fletcher: Season 1, Episode 7 “Welcome Back” (B)

This felt like a somewhat abrupt ending to a saga that I think is well worth continuing, and, fortunately, both star Kathryn Hahn and creator Tom Perrotta would be up for making more, according to an Indiewire article. It’s hard to muster up too much sympathy for Brendan, whose advisor was pretty nice to him when he came looking for help without even being slightly apologetic for his behavior the last time they met. Chloe dismissed their relationship as a mistake and rightly didn’t want to talk to him about it, and so I guess he had no choice but to go home, leading up to a predictably awkward encounter which begged the question – why would he possibly open his mother’s bedroom door when he heard sounds coming from it and hadn’t told her that he was coming home? After a miserable start running into Ted and then hurting herself right before her phone got run over, Eve’s decision to change her name was actually a positive one, resulting in a weird but ultimately fulfilling evening. I thought at first that her three-way adventure with Amanda and Julian was another one of her hallucinations, but apparently it wasn’t. It was appropriately wild, passionate, and a little bit uncomfortable. If this show did continue, its name might have to change, but I’d be very interested in seeing what’s next and giving Hahn more of an opportunity to take on this role that’s absolutely perfect for her. This has been intense but fun.

Series grade: B+
Series MVP: Kathryn Hahn

What I’m Watching: Mrs. Fletcher (Penultimate Episode)

Mrs. Fletcher: Season 1, Episode 6 “Solar Glow” (B+)

I’m sad that this show is only a miniseries and that we won’t be getting any more of it since I think these characters are worthwhile and there could be considerably more to explore with all of them. Take Jane, played by Casey Wilson, for instance, who we saw for a decent portion of this episode and who has barely been featured before this. She’s a great actress who has made the most of her material in shows like “Happy Endings” and “Black Monday,” and she wasn’t featured here all that extensively. Naturally, Eve’s mind would be stuck on the idea of getting the same kind of massage that Dave went to get which caused this friction in their marriage, and I had a feeling that, like with what’s happened so far, she wouldn’t actually opt to go for it, settling for fantasies in her car instead. She did try to take a sexy picture to send to Julian but wasn’t satisfied enough with any of the options. Brendan was bold enough to suggest that he should stop by while Chloe just wanted to study, and things were going great for a while until he got way too into what Chloe was doing for him to realize what he was doing to her. I read a scathing critique of that moment since it paints Brendan as unaware of how he treats women rather than deliberately malicious, but to me the former categorization doesn’t excuse any of his behavior, which is indeed indefensible. Let’s see if he or his mother get any sort of happy ending in the series finale.

What I’m Watching: Mrs. Fletcher

Mrs. Fletcher: Season 1, Episode 5 “Invisible Fence” (B+)

Eve just can’t really catch a break. She tried her best to come on to a guy at the party she went to with Margo, bossing him around and playing rather hard to get only to have him get far too into the role play and then not even concern himself with her satisfaction after they ditched the bathroom for his bedroom. Leading with a line about how she watches a lot of porn probably wasn’t her best bet, and that meant that, despite enjoying a large slice of pizza, she ended the night passed out on her bed, unaware that someone who would have done whatever it was she wanted was texting her that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. It’s interesting to contrast Eve’s experiences with those of her son, who again has no clue what to say when he’s around people he doesn’t quite understand. Chloe dressed him down in a fantastic way by pointing out that he’s uncomfortable for the first time in a way that most people are all the time, and for some reason she still felt he deserved a kiss for his lackluster efforts. Zack didn’t seem pleased at all with Brendan’s intrusion into this part of his life and his forced nonchalance about his sexual orientation, and I wonder how that will affect their friendship going forward. We can all cheer for Curtis and Margo, who managed to get together despite some initial awkwardness and will now just have to navigate what their relationship looks like when they get back to class.

What I’m Watching: Mrs. Fletcher

Mrs. Fletcher: Season 1, Episode 4 “Parents’ Weekend” (B+)

Eva was pretty angry when she found out that her ex-husband was going to go to parents’ weekend instead of her, and she was right to anticipate that it wouldn’t be a great idea. Ted bringing his new wife and son was understandable, but not telling Brendan that he was doing that set the wrong kind of expectations for the weekend. What was far more informative than how Brendan behaved when his younger brother stole the spotlight was how Ted interacted with him, encouraging his chauvinism by throwing around the football in the exhibit meant to challenge their lack of understanding about the patriarchy. Throwing away his brother’s prized piece of comfort that he found on the ground in the bathroom demonstrated his maturity level. Eve trying to give Roy a kiss at his funeral earned her the full fury of his son, and she was ready to have a relaxing and therapeutic night after that. Her earlier daydream about having a threesome with Julian and Roy was humorous, and she got to talk openly about her fantasies with Amanda while they were in the hot tub. Amanda didn’t respond all too poorly to Eve giving her a very passionate kiss, but Eve is going to find a real outlet for her pent-up energy, which may just be Julian. Margo is feeling tremendously awkward about her budding relationship with Curtis, and he should really try to be clearer about his feelings for her and that he actually has to move plans around for the night she suggested.

Take Three: Mrs. Fletcher

Mrs. Fletcher: Season 1, Episode 3 “Care Package” (B+)

I really liked this episode because it delved into the minor characters we’ve only seen and met briefly, embellishing their stories so that they feel human and three-dimensional. I suspected that Josh Pais would have a larger role as Barry, who got to treat everyone to an enjoyable and transformative evening at his bar and react in a regrettable way to the revelation that Margo was trans. A romance between Julian and Eve was inevitable, and they both started to realize that something was happening at the same time when Julian was looking up at Eve’s feet. Telling her that she was pretty before he threw up a whole lot put the brakes on anything concrete for the moment, and I was also surprised that the connection between Julian and Brendan came up without much fanfare aside from Eve’s correct conclusion that they were not friends. I like that Brendan did eventually call his mother back a while after he heard her angry voicemail, and she was perfectly satisfied at the end of the episode just eating and enjoying herself on the floor, a more successful run than her earlier attempts at pleasure that didn’t result in much. Brendan did a terrible job of reading the room at the support group, and it’s puzzling that Chloe is still into him. I’m hopeful that Margo and Curtis becoming closer won’t end poorly, and the class is sure going to be different the next time they meet back in their dreary setting.

Round Two: Mrs. Fletcher

Mrs. Fletcher: Season 1, Episode 2 “Free Sample” (B+)

I liked the second episode of this show, which served as a strong follow-up to the first. There isn’t much that’s glamorous about Eve’s life, and she’s finding excitement in unexpected ways by watching a whole lot of porn at home. Her supermarket encounter with the woman giving free samples was quite racy, and it seems thus far that she’s keeping all of her fantasies to herself rather than trying to act on them in the real world. She eventually agreed to go on a date with Emily’s friend Peter, but there was something too sterile and unenticing about the place where she met him that inspired her to make up an excuse about leaving something on at home and ditch the date. Roy’s constant masturbation got him kicked out, further angering his son George, and Eve seemed perfectly happy to see him when he surprised her during her skinny-dipping session. I recognized Josh Pais from “Touchy Feely” and “Ray Donovan” as Barry in her group, and I wonder whether he’ll have a larger role going forward. Brendan is proving to be even more awful than he seemed in the first episode, declaring that he’s only at college so that he can get a six-figure job. It’s funny that actor Neil Casey is playing Devin, his advisor, since he is also appearing on “Silicon Valley,” which airs right before this show. The representative from the vegan club had Brendan’s number by refusing to even engage with him when he looked her up and down, but autism club representative Chloe, played by Jasmine Cephas Jones from “Blindspotting,” seemed ready to give him more of a chance while also pegging him perfectly. His participation in the consent simulation was far from serious, and what he took away from that hardly underscores his internalization of the material.

Minute with Abe: Mrs. Fletcher

I'm trying something new with my pilot reviews, so from now on, check out video takes on each new series, which I'll embed below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.