Google “Better Things review” and you’ll see heaps and heaps of glowing reviews.
The show is often called “grand” and “triumphant” (my personal favorite is a review by Vulture calling it “a rare and precious gift.)
But Better Things is none of those things. In fact, it’s nothing at all.
The series focuses on Sam and her three daughters living in L.A., all of which are some of the most unlikeable characters on TV. Sam is, for the most part, a terrible mother. She spoils her children to avoid actually parenting them and then gets mad when they act like spoiled brats. Her two older children are complete assholes (sorry but there’s truly not a better word to describe them), whom Sam has little to no patience for. Every once in a while, the family comes together for a moment of love, but those moments are far and few between.
On top of all of that, the show has absolutely nothing new to offer to the television landscape. In the renaissance of television, Better Things merely exists, contributing nothing.
And yet, critics revel in its nothingness. They proclaim that the show’s mundanity is what makes it brilliant. They try desperately to find meaning where there is none, bending over backward to kiss Pamela Adlon’s ass.
Of course, it’s out of pure white privilege that a show of its kind could even exist, let alone thrive. We have countless shows about white people doing nothing (Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and yet black and Latinx shows have to fight tooth and nail just to make it on the air.
Shows like One Day at a Time and black-ish are constantly having to prove themselves, always having to top themselves each season just to prove to executives that they deserve to be renewed.
But Better Things does nothing, contributes nothing to pop culture and yet has earned a permanent place in critics’ hearts.
Better Things deserves none of your compliments and certainly doesn’t deserve a place on your watch list.
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