Scary Fun
"Scary Fun" represented the second consecutive episode of Better Things to take a common sitcom trope and subvert our expectations of it. In this case, it was the "Halloween episode", a tradition that has been indulged in by sitcoms for decades. But instead of using Halloween as a theme in the episode, Adlon chose to leave it in the background, using it only to amplify what the episode was really about.
This episode was one of the few of Better Things that allowed Sam to simply enjoy being a parent. Most episodes of the show derive their best material from Sam doing mundane, unglamorous tasks all mothers are likely familiar with, but every now and then the show lets Sam be happy, and "Scary Fun" is the best example of that yet. She can enjoy the moment of hearing Duke curse for the first time, though, of course, it wasn't actually her first time. She can engage in a silly game with Frankie as they try to out-scare each other. And she can comfort Max after she breaks up with Harvey.
This episode saw Sam watching her three daughters grow up before her eyes. Duke is cursing now. Frankie's emotions are getting more and more complex. Max is now bringing boys home (hopefully, in the future she can do better than Harvey). But what the end of this episode reinforced was that they're not quite grown up yet.
This is where setting this episode at Halloween makes it all the more effective. Max has been stuck in the "rebellious teen" archetype for much of the show thus far, and whenever the show has broken from that it has been to show her growing maturity (she helps take in the shopping at the top of this episode). But when Sam walks into her room after she has broken up with Harvey, we see Max at her most innocent and vulnerable, only amplified by the fact that she's wearing angel wings.
The episode's conclusion is one of the show's most touching moments thus far, as Sam, Frankie and Duke all decide to stay at home with Max and watch some scary movies. This not only represents the growing maturity of the younger two daughters that they're willing to forgo trick-or-treating, but also underlines how none of them are quite grown up yet that they're willing to stay at home and watch scary movies together.
Grade: A-
Hair of the Dog
"Hair of the Dog" is easily the most bizarre episode of Better Things thus far, which is saying something. This show, for the entirety of its first season, has sought to capture a specific mood and feel, coming across as very laid back and casual as it bounces between different slices of life. Often times, episodes feel very disconnected, merely a collection of weird, hilarious, touching scenes that don't necessarily add up to a complete whole, nor do they have to. But once you step back from the show and let it sit with you, the connections between scenes become much clearer.
Possibly the most bizarre element of "Hair of the Dog" is the cameo of Joe Walsh (though the fact that two fifteen-year-old girls would be excited to see Joe Walsh live is maybe even weirder). But Walsh's cameo is key to understanding what this peculiar episode is trying to get at. In the episode, Walsh performs one of his better-known songs, "Life's Been Good", which translates into the episode's central theme: recognising that life is good, even when it seems like it isn't.
In the first half of the episode Max is annoyed by her mother, but when her friend Paisley runs into a boy she blew once, Sam gives her a comforting speech, saying, "If it’s any consolation, I see people I blew all the time." After the speech, Paisley points out to Max how lucky she is to have such a cool mother.
While Max learns to appreciate her mother, Sam ends up making the most out of her failed attempt to sell a table (a symbol of her failed marriage, I suppose). Though she fails to sell it to some Bulgarians, she walks away from the situation with a new chicken recipe, as well as a new purpose for the table, ending the episode by having dinner outside with the family, along with the two workers that helped move the table.
But unlike Max, who gains a new appreciation of life in the episode, Sam continues to live partly in denial, as she lies to her friend about the true nature of her relationship with Unnamed Man. Sam keeps insisting that it's casual, but in flashbacks we see that it's getting far more serious, and she doesn't seem ready to make such a commitment, or at least admit to making it.
Grade: B
