Let's start with the good news: one of the best television shows is back on the air. The bad news is that it's the show's last hurrah. After four excellent seasons, the FX dramedy series, Better Things, has just begun its fifth and final season. It's especially sad because there's nothing else like it right now; no other show can fill the niche that Better Things has since 2016. In a streaming and cable TV landscape of intense drama and dark comedy with stories arcs that span seasons, Pamela Adlon's naturalistic and refreshingly episodic show has been a breath of fresh air.

Better Things was created by Pamela Adlon (and Louis C. K., more on that later), which also stars Adlon playing a version of herself named Sam Fox, a divorced actress. Sam has three daughters: Max (Mikey Madison), Frankie, and Duke (Hannah Alligood). Rounding out the cast is Celia Imrie, who plays Sam's mother, Phyllis. In addition, there is an extensive cast of reoccurring regulars, including Diedrich Bader as Sam's gay best friend Rich, Alysia Reiner as the recently divorced Sunny, among others.

Rather than being about anything in particular, the show is about the day-to-day lives of the Fox family as they deal with each other and the outside world. It's done in a slice-of-life style that is rarely done on American television, full of intimate moments that build to something powerful by the end of the episode. Its unique approach to storytelling and genre, realistic dialogue, and in-depth characterization all deserve to be celebrated, so let's go over what makes this show so special before it ends later this year.

Freedom to Be Itself​​

Better Things
FX

You never know what you're going to get with an episode of Better Things. It can be hilarious, heart-breaking, or both at the same time. FX has allowed the show to transform itself into whatever it needs to be at a given moment, trusting in Pamela Adlon's ability to craft compelling television. This freedom has allowed the show to be infinitely malleable, fitting into whatever mold is needed to tell that week's story most effectively. Better Things is often described as a dramedy, but grafting on a genre to the show reduces its power. The show can only be accurately described as Better Things. While that might be a tautology, it goes beyond simple classification and can only be defined by itself.

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Eschewing all conventions, Better Things rejects continuity and explanations, only employing them when it wants to. Viewers are often not given the full background necessary to understand what is happening, which makes the characters seem like they have real lives that continue when you're not watching. Sometimes the most dramatic moments happen off-screen, only showing the consequences that hint at what occurred. The opposite often occurs as well; events that you would expect to be dramatic turning points are never referenced again. Serialization and context are optional, a respite from other shows that feel the need to explain everything and tie up every loose end with a bow.

Genius Needle Drops

Better Things Image
FX

It can often feel like it's necessary to watch every episode of Better Things twice, once to fully appreciate it and once more to keep track of the excellent music played throughout. It should come as no surprise then that the show's music producer, Nora Felder, has won three Emmys for her craft, but credit must also be given to Pamela Adlon and her eclectic music taste. One particularly inspired musical moment involves most of the main cast recreating Christine and the Queens' music video for the band's song "Tilted" in the season two finale. Most of the show's needle drops aren't this elaborate, but it wouldn't be as powerful without its impeccable music selections. Whether a song is needed for a montage or to hit home an emotional beat, Adlon and Felder will find the perfect track.

The Elephant in the Room

Better Things Louie C.K.
FX

When talking about Better Things, one thing will always come up: Louis C.K., who co-created the show with Pamela Adlon. The two had previously worked together on C.K.'s show Louie for FX, so the collaboration made sense. However, between seasons two and three of the program, C.K. admitted to sexual misconduct and was fired from the show. Adlon had to rebuild after he left, telling Vanity Fair, "[a]ll of a sudden, he's gone, my show is dangling from a precipice...[i]t was so huge. And it was so devastating."

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However, if you somehow were unaware of Louis C.K.'s behavior and the subsequent fallout, you'd be forgiven for not noticing any dramatic shifts after his departure. The show was inherently feminist from the beginning, telling the story of a family of women. The show's continued presence and principled commitment to telling stories from a staunchly female-perspective stand in stark opposition to C.K.'s abhorrent actions.

Better Things has been a remarkable and consistently enthralling show over its past four seasons, and season five seems to be continuing the trend. The show has been confident in what it wanted to be since its pilot and has only gotten better and more challenging since then, existing in defiant opposition to genre descriptions and expectations of serialization. When one of its creators did something heinous that goes against the show's values, it subtly deepened its already present commitment to sharing a multi-generational, female perspective. The stories Better Things tells and how it tells them are in sharp contrast to everything else on television. It's a shame to lose something so singular, but whatever Pamela Adlon does next will surely be just as stellar.