She’s helped her younger co-stars Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood, and Olivia Edward hone their talents while always leaving them room to shape their characters. I mean, even the fucking Dalai Lama let us down. Then: MENOPAUSE. We have to be brothers to each other. The chin hair, the bloating, the periods, the spiking emotions—they’re all unwelcome shifts, but they’re not the sum of middle age or aging in general. Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed. The number of things I want to write about never matches up with the time to write about them. When I would talk to certain women about it, they were terrified that it would get out…so I realized [women] would only talk about menopause if their identities were not revealed. You’re primed and you’re prepped and abused and adored and harassed and worshiped and then… it all stops. TVLine talked to Pamela Adlon ahead of Thursday’s finale. But all of their faces are shrouded, protecting their identities so they can talk freely. While the Season 4 finale explores the kindness of strangers and the challenges of being a woman, it’s Sam’s relationship with her ex-husband Xander that takes center stage. But Adlon, who wrote and directed the season-four finale, does have a sendoff in store for us—and, if we’re willing to accept it, a lesson. Below are some bonus quotes from the interview (which you can read here in full): On Sam’s menopause piece she produced: But R.E.M. After hearing the girls were at the beach, Phyl wisely says, “The answers are in the water. He hands out microphones, and the three bust out a rendition of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender,” as they drive. From 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock. for FX, starring Adlon as a divorced actress who raises her three daughters on her own. Then she stopped, not wanting to puncture the show’s magic: “I hate mapping out the symbolism. The first season of Better Things picked up well after Sam and Xander’s divorce, diving right into her single-mom life. Duke may no longer be her ally in dealing with Max and Frankie’s bullshit, but Sam can now look forward to ballet recitals and other milestones, including the ones she has already shepherded her older daughters through. But he does come over, and he even has the decency to look slightly chastened when Sam tells him she’d rather take out a loan and owe the bank $60,000 than continue handing it over to him in increments. Sam is really, truly ready to move on. “I ended up making a documentary about them,” she said, though the film was never released. I like people to figure that out for themselves.”. Her former father-in-law said as much, and even she once pondered making room for him in her garage. Instead, she listens as Xander tells her he was “moved” by all the care and planning she put into Frankie’s batceañera (a term that looks way gothier than it is). What a searing, absolutely riveting soliloquy. You’re a lady—you’re supposed to be pretty and attractive. Thank you for reading, even if it was sporadically. If you like TVLine, you'll LOVE our weekly newsletter. or something (this chapter of their lives?). With some help from her loved ones, Sam’s been metabolizing her anger and resentment all season. The plea for greater compassion at the end. Not for you, for me. Does anyone else think that the older woman Duke met after the ballgame was actually a vision of her future self, who apparently remained steadfast in her refusal to have kids? In the end, she decides to give him an upfront payment of all her future alimony checks in one lump sum. All she can do is reflect it, in ever more gut-wrenching, insightful, and impressive ways. Women have to say this to each other. Better Things continues to find the humor in getting older without ever making doing so look like a death sentence. Women are afraid to talk to each other. On September 20, 2016, FX renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on September 14, 2017. Toward the end of the finale, it’s revealed that Sam’s been working on a documentary that’s essentially a series of testimonials from a wide range of women discussing issues they face, from periods to catcalling to menopause. From the awards race to the box office, with everything in between: get the entertainment industry's must-read newsletter. ), We segue to a segment Sam is producing for an actor-friend’s show. Sam doesn’t want to grumble every time she has to write another check; she doesn’t want to feel the bile rise in her throat every time she thinks about the next time. That’s because for so long, Sam’s response to the impositions has been to roll her eyes, crack a joke, and sign a check. All products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors. We even age out of the bad things, like being fetishized or diminished or talked down to. Before he leaves, he asks her for the money she owes him, and we see a flashback of them sorting through their divorce online. It completes a running theme for this season: the notion that water is nature’s greatest healer, cleansing all that which we can’t abide. All of it. It’s a dread she lives with, which is why it both looms over the show yet dissipates so quickly. The woman relates: “At the end of a day, I prefer being alone. Adlon’s speech recalls for me the stealthily astute Emilia from Othello, who shrewdly observed that men “are all but stomachs, and we all but food; to eat us hungerly, and when they are full, they belch us.” She knows women are all too often at the whims of men; when Emilia realizes she played a role in Desdemona’s death, she is beside herself even as she looks to bring Othello to justice. You’re primed and you’re prepped and abused and adored and harassed and worshipped. April 30 2020, 7:30 PM PDT, RELATED STORIES Women, like, decompose from the inside out, it’s crazy!”, On choosing “Nightswimming” as the final song:“I knew that I was ending with ‘Nightswimming.’ I walked into the writers room and played it for them and described the end of the show. ... Xander’s done a shit job as a … The episode, however, isn’t all about oblique references and secret Easter eggs. “Better Things” Seasons 1-4 are streaming now on Hulu. All rights reserved. Nobody wants to hear about it which is why nobody ever prepared you for it. Better Things 10 Shows Like 'Emily in Paris' -- and Where to Watch Them Stream It Or Skip It: 'Seneca' on HBO, an Earnest Drama About a Puerto Rican-born New Yorker in the Midst of a … I don’t have a backup (both in terms of people and resources) for coverage on this show, which is why I couldn’t ask for a substitute. Though many scenes in this 1965 musical were shot in a studio, those majestic exteriors of. Like so many moments on Better Things, it’s tough to pin down whether it’s an entry point or a conclusion. For someone who’s never been too concerned with closure, Pamela Adlon sure knows how to craft a finale. “Whaaat?”. We’ve been going through it through history and nobody talks about it. After mistaking Sam for Constance Zimmer, he offers them a ride. The final shot is of Max, Frankie and Duke sitting on the sand, quiet and pensive. “The answers are in the water,” Phyllis tells Sam. The answers are in the water. “Listen To The Roosters” is full of tension and humor, particularly when Rich (Diedrich Bader) and Xander have words over their after-dinner drinks. In the present, Sam tells him: “I’m forgiving you. Our prize in the goody bag after everyone has had their fill of us is shingles, thin bones, whiskers, and bunions. In the back of her mind, Sam has thought she’d always have to take care of Xander. 'The Witches' Remake Receives Backlash From Disability Community…, DirecTV NFL Antitrust Suit Survives as Supreme Court Denies…, The 20 Highest Grossing Indies of 2020 (A Running List), Greece Selects Venice Horizons Opener 'Apples' for International…, Staying at Home? The night swim comes at an especially important moment for Sam, who’s spent the entirety of the series doling out alimony to her noxious, absent ex-husband, Xander … “I’m excited about it because it was something that was sticking with me. Some have been gentler with their critiques, while others, like Lala’s husband, have called Sam “bitter”: “You’re getting brittle, and hard.” Sunny (Alysia Reiner) echoed his sentiments in the penultimate episode, encouraging Sam to let go of the “death grip you have on your anger.” “It’s not a good look on you” = “It is not flattering.”. But it is serendipitous. “Originally, I had named the finale ‘Nightswimming,’ but then I didn’t want to give it away.”. When hope seems to have been lost, a security guard named Fortunato comes to their rescue. You’re ashamed, you’re unseen. You’re not viable. R.E.M., Adlon notes, was happy to oblige: “They gave it to us for a song,” she added with a chuckle. It’s even worse: you’re invisible.” She continues: “Women are afraid to talk to each other. So she has Xander over for dinner, though she doesn’t immediately tell him that she asked the girls to stay away. They climb aboard and a sea of lights illuminate the interior à la Cash Cab. Again, Adlon knows her way around a captivating closer—she is a consummate storyteller, but tonight, she became a healer. Another major Easter egg revolves around Duke (Olivia Edward), who’s become something of a medium over the course of the series. Meanwhile, Duke meets an older woman on a bench who claims to see the future. Ad Choices. reserved.PMC Entertainment. ). As she got older, she became “no longer”; no longer “young” or “desirable” or, most devastatingly, “visible.” She might have given away a small fortune at the end, but Sam is not lacking. Not in the sense of “by chance” or “luck” (when has Sam ever lucked into anything), but in its ephemeral and undeniable joy. And for my daughters.”. As the sun sets (and R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming” croons), they turn around and stare into the camera. Grade the finale and overall season below, then tell us your thoughts in the Comments! I saw the stories. But for much of Better Things’ four-season run, Xander has come across as an annoyance in Sam’s life, not a great grievance. The kicker? That’s the essence of Adlon’s show, which is right in its title: Better Things, which suggests a shifting state. The entire season felt like that, she said, a series of incredible moments coalescing into “this beautiful story.”, “I just kept pinching myself because it all fell into place,” she said. FX has yet to renew the series for a fifth season. If there's one thing Better Things' Sam Fox desperately needs, it's closure. “Next time, marry a Mexican. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Even the rain has cleared, paving the way for a day at the beach for a few, but not all, members of the Fox family.
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