Hello Tomorrow Season 1 Episode 10 Review: What Could Be Better?

It’s time to say goodbye to Hello Tomorrow! with Season 1 Episode 10, “What Could Be Better?”

It’s dangerous to ask the question, “What could be better?” on the finale episode of Hello Tomorrow!‘s first season. I can rattle off a never-ending list of what could be better on this show. But, for now, I will enjoy the fact that this show is finally over.

You would think a season two renewal is “innament” with the way these plots stay maddeningly open-ended.

Although, even if it is picked up, I will not be tuning in. I feel swindled enough myself with the first season. And that does not make good television—it makes a good infomercial. 

It does make me wonder, however, what the show is trying to sell with these particular stories and characters. 

Hello Tomorrow! appeals to—or at least attempts to—the dreamer in all of us, but that’s when you look at the bright side (pun intended). It’s the darker side of dreaming, though, that is worth taking a closer look at here, which are the lies we tell ourselves in order to keep those dreams alive. 

On Hello Tomorrow! Season 1 Episode 6, “The Numbers Behind the Numbers,” Herb says, “You see, there is pain, Eddie. And then there’s lying to yourself.”

When one is a incessant dreamer, reality checks can be pretty brutal. Continuing these plots in our imagination with the way the season comes to a close only leads to depressing outcomes for all involved. This makes me sad for everyone, but especially for Shirley and Herb, who deserve so much more than their sad stories coming to a sad end with only disappointment to look forward to. 

Herb is going to be made the fall guy. Joey lays the groundwork for that when he jumps in to grandstand with his pops. Even after all the lying he’s caught his father in, he still wants his validation.

Again, it’s depressing to watch. 

The truth just gets in the way, though. That seems to be a theme on the series, and it is definitely prominent on this finale episode with lines of dialogue spelling it out for us. 

This tactic of telling and not showing—which indicates lazy writing, if you ask me—was also prevalent on Hello Tomorrow! Season 1 Episode 9, “Certain Forces Once Unleashed,” regarding the six-week time jump. 

Joey’s mother, Marie (Annie McNamara), has awaken from her coma and has trouble remembering her son and absent husband. But, as soon as Jack starts his spiel about life up on the moon and their happy, shared memories, she begins to realize it’s the same old line he’s always been selling.

She’s been catatonic for the entire season, but she can smell Jack’s bullshit like he was lying to her just yesterday. It’s not a case of the truth getting in the way, it’s that the truth is unavoidable. It is a pretty gut-wrenching final line to end the first season on, but it’s accurate.

Marie: We weren’t really that happy, were we?

This show hasn’t done many things right, in my opinion. Alas, the final moment captures something real, calls out Jack and his lying, and ends the season with a nice dose of reality. 

The Norman Rockwell-type setting with the family staged around Christmas dinner drives that message home in a cinematic fashion that has been lacking in the show’s storytelling. I wouldn’t say Hello Tomorrow! finishes strong, but it does end on a well-executed, bittersweet note.

What did you think of the Season 1 finale episode of Hello Tomorrow!? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Hello Tomorrow! Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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