Better Things Review: Get Lit (Season 3 Episode 11)
On Better Things Season 3 Episode 11, “Get Lit,” Sam deals with the often thankless task of motherhood.
Sam is in full-on mom mode on “Get Lit.” Sam endures a lot of attitude from her three daughters, so she’s not above manipulating them to try and gain some much-needed respect.
Dr. Miller, who isn’t exactly in a position to take the moral high ground, doesn’t want to tell a few white lies for Sam to help with her “ghost” problem, so she finds someone else with no problem doing the job.
It’s doubtful this guy is an actual medium although it isn’t out of the question. But it feels like he’s been coached since much of what he says provides comfort to Sam’s children in ways only a mother could predict. His advice also works in her favor when it comes to tough terrain like a MIA dad and feeling underappreciated.
Murray is a presence, but it’s hard to accept Sam’s father as anything but a shared symbol among the occupants of the house of something or someone missing. This is a void Sam does her best to fill, but since Sam is feeling more noticeably incomplete herself this season, stuff slips through the cracks.
Whether this medium is legit or not, Sam’s goal is just to get her girls in a better head space and make her life a modicum easier in the process. Although there’s always a loving cohesiveness underlying Sam’s interactions with her daughters, she also endures their almost ceaselessly self-involved, spoiled antics.
We love Sam as a mother, but it’s also difficult to fight the urge to criticize how she chooses to deal with her daughters. None of the girls, particularly Max and Frankie, come across as particularly likable this season.
Max is a college dropout who smokes pot with her friends all day and has the nerve to be antagonistic and unapologetic about her behavior. Frankie is abrasive and moody while Duke’s former precociousness is evolving into a wicked case of pre-pubescence.
Sam isn’t a pushover, and she exhibits incredible strength most of the time, speaking up and out no matter what the consequences. But her tendency to let her daughters roll over her gets frustrating. It’s the one area of her life where she’s more accepting of the balance of power not being in her favor.
Sam isn’t blind to her daughters’ faults: she knows they exist, but she accepts them which is what you’re supposed to do with the people you love. We know Sam doesn’t always like her kids, and she’ll nag, nudge and become the walking stereotype of a Jewish mother.
She’s often left defeated, deflated, and shuffles off with the weight of the world on her shoulders. This is why when she goes off on Max, we feel some satisfaction. It’s short-lived since every other kid Sam targets feels shame and guilt except for her own.
Sam’s attempts to be involved in her children’s’ lives are often met with resistance and resentment. It’s ironic Frankie’s poem demands transparency but only from parent to child and not the other way around.
The Postmates delivery kind of sums up parenthood. Your kids are going to smoke, have sex, and do other things you aren’t crazy about. But if you get it right, they’ll be creative, imaginative, funny, expressive, and appreciate Earnest Hemingway.
What did you think of this episode of Better Things? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Better Things Season 3 finale airs Thursday, May 16 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.