Julia Review: Petit Fours (Season 1 Episode 4)
Julia Season 1 Episode 4, “Petit Fours,” proves that the show is as funny as it is insightful.
Maybe I was too busy paying attention to what Julia was trying to say in the first three episodes to notice how it was being said, but its voice came across loud and clear on “Petit Fours.” The episode allows the comedic notes of this HBO Max series to really shine.
If you didn’t laugh at least once, then you missed a great scene.
Julia‘s tone makes it hard to ignore that the series wants to pay homage to classic sitcoms that came before it, during it, and after it–classic TV shows such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, I Love Lucy, Bewitched, and many others from the 50s-80s. Viewers can almost hear where the laugh track would be inserted.
Keeping up with the nostalgic vibe, the score that plays in “Petit Fours” feels very reminiscent of sounds that would play throughout classic TV shows to emphasize a moment or scene.
This episode of Julia has many clever lines, but also incorporates things often seen in classic sitcoms, such as physical gags and the bumbling characters. Avis (Bebe Neuwirth) struggling to whip eggs felt like some type of mischief you see with Lucille Ball.
The quest to calm the fragile male ego in Julia offers some of the show’s critical and most entertaining scenes. It also opens the door for supporting characters to glow.
Jefferson Mays plays Albert perfectly. He is someone who believes himself more intelligent than everyone else in the room, but he is maybe just slightly above a dunce. This makes it easy for viewers to pity him more than despise him.
He’s a character that’s evolution should be quite fun to watch.
Hunter (Robert Joy) also really shines in this episode as well. He didn’t have many scenes in the first three episodes of Julia, but really stood out in “Petite Flour.”
He has some of the episode’s funniest moments, from lecturing Julia (Sarah Lancashire) about an interview she never gave to his assumption that a man found a way to expand The French Chef‘s audience. He’s the kind of silly boss that good sitcoms need.
Julia isn’t a sitcom, but the way it incorporates sitcom elements in it, especially “Petite Flour,” makes it a show to admire.
This approach to Julia allows the series to really capture the essence of the era, while also paying homage to the world of television during those critical decades.
Other Thoughts
- Julia is often dressed in bright colors or patterns, while the rest of the cast and extras wear more muted colors such as gray, black, and brown. This helps show Julia as this whimsical figure who helps bring color to the world.
- The ending of this episode of Julia also felt like a lesson of the week-style ending, which is another way the series pays tribute to classic family sitcoms.
- Julia introducing John Updike (Bryce Pinkham) makes me look forward to seeing, even more, fictionalized versions of real pop culture figures.
What did you think of this episode of Julia? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Julia streams every Thursday on HBO Max until May 5.
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Jerrica Tisdale
Jerrica Tisdale is your favorite neighborhood pop culture junkie. She will annoy you with random TV and film facts, while complaining about whatever is the hottest new book. She has been a TV fan all her life but writing about it for over a decade. You may find her work all over the internet especially reality TV rants. She is a senior writer at Tell-Tale TV.