Somebody Somewhere Season 3 Review: The Sweetest of Goodbyes

An almost too painfully obvious question hanging over my head Someone Somewhere since its debut in 2022 is: Who is Sam's (Bridget Everett) Someone – and is that somewhere they're hiding in, of all places, their hometown of Manhattan, Kansas? In other words, to paraphrase a quote from Joel (Jeff Hiller), Sam's ever-giggling best friend, from the show's upcoming third and final season: Who is her persona? Songwriters throughout popular music history have grappled with this very question in order to resonate with listeners, from George Gershwin's “Someone To Watch Over Me” to Mikal Cronin's “You Gotta Have Someone” (and, yes, “Somebody Somewhere, “from the 1950s Broadway musical The luckiest guy). This is really fitting, considering not only Sam's musical ability and talent, but also, despite her self-deprecating distractions and shitty exterior, her clear need for something more, let's say, a romantic partner (even though she would be that). the last person to admit it).

But before the gentle, big-hearted HBO dramedy created by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen (of the Brooklyn-based theater company Debate Society) and produced by Duplass Brothers Productions even gets into this mushy stuff, it throws us for a loop back into the kind of banter the show has leaned toward since its premiere. Sam is now an assistant of sorts to her sister Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison), whose pillow company (the articles are tagged with phrases that creatively use the word “cunt,” per Sam's suggestion) has become successful online. (The clear winner, in our opinion, is: “Knock, knock.” “Who's there?” “You. You're still a cunt.”) “It's a little divorce present for me from my cunt pillows,” Tricia tells Sam Presents their new Cadillac SUV. Without batting an eyelid, Sam chimes in: “Holy shit. Damn, that's a lot of cunts.” But just as quickly, in another of its classic maneuvers, the series tempers all that feel-good banter and positivity with pain, underlining that Sam is unhealthily needy and is always just one bad news away from to break down, whether it's learning that Joel is moving in with his boyfriend Brad (a fantastic Tim Bagley, who has a lot more to do this season) or that the shelter dog she fell in love with is being adopted by a young couple became.

It's the kind of show where for every funny subplot about STDs (yes, there's one here, and it includes one of Sam's standout lines: “Let's get the horse pills for your sick twat”) there's a tear-jerking confession There is self-doubt just around the corner. Honestly, this transition happens so frequently with our protagonist early in the season that you'd be forgiven for saying to the TV screen, “Sam: Go. To. Therapy.” – but as the story progresses, other characters are wisely confronted with problems and surprises. Joel, always the infectious ray of sunshine, has to confront a bully from his high school days and his desire to have children. (“I haven't seen you like this since we met Mr. Holland's opus “together,” comforts Sam after a tearful, martini-tinged confession.) Meanwhile, Trish, who has often been portrayed as Sam's comedic foil and foil on the show, grows close to her sister and is eventually overwhelmed by the grief that has long been brewing beneath her Surface. And some in the show's close group of friends are beginning to realize that Fred's (Murray Hill) new bride is Susan (Jennifer Mudge), to continue a quote from Karen The office“kind of a slut.”

But the highlights of this final season — the moments that will stay with you after the credits roll — don't come in the form of these highs or lows, these giggle fests or friend-to-friend therapy sessions. There are a few really sweet scenes – not too many to dampen the emotional turmoil – that are sure to cheer you up, particularly the performance of a song Brad and Sam wrote for Joel and a few key, strategically placed interactions with a new character. a bearded, stoic guy who rents Sam's childhood home and is simply called Iceland (a great Ólafur Darri Ólafsson).

Which brings us back to the question that sparked this review: Who is Sam's someone? The answer may not lie in a crush or her radiant best friend or that city or that friend group. Maybe it's a combination of all of that – and all of the past joy and trauma and baggage that made Sam the person she is now. As Brad puts it when confronting a particularly painful chapter of his past during Thanksgiving dinner, “I'm very grateful for everything that led me to this moment.” As this show takes its final bow, it's worth it , to pause and celebrate how refreshing it was to have a series with such a passion for humanity that feels neither cheesy nor reductive – and that is packaged with a confident indie film aesthetic, complete with beautiful piano interludes and calming establishing shots the Midwest backdrop. In today's television landscape (hell, in today's World), this kind of optimism and empathy is radical in its own way – and indeed worth encouraging.

Someone Somewhere The third season premieres October 27th on HBO