Better Things Review: Monsters in the Moonlight (Season 3 Episode 4)
On Better Things Season 3 Episode 4, “Monsters in the Moonlight,” Sam experiences a growing attraction while balancing her home and work lives.
If there’s any noticeable difference about Better Things since Louis C.K.’s departure, it’s a more palpable sense of intimacy. While Sam is always at the epicenter of the show, she’s more emotionally exposed this season.
“Monsters in the Moonlight” is separated into four distinctive parts that showcase compartmentalized areas of Sam’s life: ex-wife, single mom, working actress, and single woman.
Sam never comes off as particularly conflicted about her ex-husband, Xander (Matthew Glave). But the presumably sudden deluge of sex dreams about the father of her children demonstrates some unresolved feelings. The dream sequences grow increasingly carnal and violent as Sam’s frustration over Xander’s intrusion into her subconscious escalates.
Sam does a stellar job of doing double parenting duty. Frankie is suffering from middle child syndrome, and Duke is transitioning from precocious to a bit more high-maintenance.
One minute Duke’s spewing profanity, bemoaning her mother’s smothering behavior, and then she’s just a little girl who needs her mommy to tell her things are going to be okay.
Better Things never sugarcoats the highs and lows of being a parent. It’s okay to think your kid is acting like an a**h**e if they are. There are periods of pure whoop-it-up joy doing doughnuts in a parking lot tempered by the disappointment when they drop out of college.
Parenting may provide periods of elation, but for Sam, work is pure drudgery. Since Adlon knows firsthand what life is like on a movie set, it’s fair to assume things aren’t as glamorous as people may believe.
Sam always appears secure about her life choices, but season 3 has her late father showing up to offer his “Cookie” advice. Sam rarely seeks or receives counsel from anyone close to her. These visions of her deceased dad indicate Sam may not always feel comfortable with such autonomy.
The big and small screens love to idealize and reward the protagonist whenever they color outside the lines. But Sam’s efforts to make her job a better place don’t culminate in a Norma Rae moment. It’s just like any workplace where everybody complains, but threats to overthrow the status quo are empty.
One positive thing Sam’s taken away from her latest job is a new relationship. It’s a fledgling one, but Sam interacts with Mer Kodis on a level that straddles friendship and something more. Whenever Sam connects with someone, everything slows down.
The background grows blurry, and oftentimes, viewers can’t hear the conversation, relying solely on body language and facial expressions. Sam’s life moves at such a frantic pace that these moments where anything or anyone other than Sam, and in this instance Mer, are such a stark contrast.
If we watched anyone else masturbate on a deserted road, we’d likely feel some revulsion. But this is Sam’s oasis. It’s a time and a place where she can explore a relationship she’ll never have, even for just a few fleeting moments.
This is the Sam nobody gets to see, and that’s why Better Things Season 3 feels so personal.
What did you think of this episode of Better Things? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Better Things airs Thursdays at 10/9c on FX.
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Jennifer Lind-Westbrook
Jennifer has been working as a freelance writer for six years, contributing to BuddyTV, Screen Rant, TVRage, Hidden Remote, Gossip On This, and PopMatters. She prefers binge-watching old episodes of The Office (British and American versions) to long walks on the beach. She's still holding out hope that Happy Endings will get a revival.