Better Things Season 3 Finale Review: Shake the Cocktail (Season 3 Episode 12)
On Better Things Season 3 Episode 12, “Shake the Cocktail,” Sam faces a milestone.
Better Things Season 3 has been one of upheaval for Sam, and the finale focuses on what Sam values most above all else — her family and friends. It’s rare all of the relationships in our lives are simultaneously harmonious, and this is what Adlon explores.
It’s a rough episode to watch as Frankie shuts Sam out for reasons known neither to Sam nor the viewers. There’s a hostility Frankie reserves just for her mother, showing nothing but compassion, courtesy, a willingness to communicate and affection towards everyone else in her life (including coincidentally a homeless woman named Sam).
It’s not just parents who will empathize with Sam’s frustration because everyone’s been confounded by those closest to them at one time or another. Better Things isn’t a show that delivers a quick fix because, in real life, it doesn’t work that way.
Sam’s also dealing with feeling pushed aside by Rich (Deidrich Bader) who’s in the honeymoon phase with a new boyfriend. Sam rarely shows vulnerability, but her fear of abandonment is palpable. She’s not someone who prioritizes fleeting romances above the relationships she’s nurtured and, possibly, her expectations about reciprocity are unfair.
The most poignant, noteworthy moments of the entire episode come in the last few minutes. As Frankie’s choir belts out Florence and the Machine’s “Shake It Out,” an ode to all the crappy stuff life throws our way. But the only real option is to persevere.
On her 50th birthday, Sam, who has a compulsive need to control everything in her life because it’s all on her, begins to realize letting go isn’t always a choice. To survive, we all have to savor the good: food, brief flings, intimacy, inside jokes, those who love us unconditionally, and the people who appreciate us and pick us up when we’re down.
It does feel like Sam and Frankie reach some sort of resolution or understanding, and Frankie acknowledges that she’s going through something she possibly doesn’t fully understand herself.
Frankie: What we know is this: You have survived another year. You made it. We all made it.
While one daughter pulls away, there’s a beauty in how Duke and Max come together to help their mother through this tough time. There’s something symbiotic about Sam and her girls. Two pick up the slack while another has her “moment.”
Rich gives Sam a gift — a key inscribed with the word “peace.” It’s time for Sam to find the key to her peace and happiness.
Murray: Hey, Cookie. Guess what? I didn’t make it. You made it. So here’s the kick in the nuts. Now what are you gonna do?
Throughout Better Things Season 3, Sam takes stock of things she’s lost as she’s grown older: desirability, fearlessness, invisibility, and visibility.
But there’s also what you gain. Never stop searching. Viewers have no doubt both Sam and Adlon’s best years lay ahead.
What did you think of this episode of Better Things? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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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.