Or so The Millers would have us believe. Seriously, I loathe this show.
Tonight's plot involves death and cemetery plots. Sadly, none of these characters actually dies or is actually buried. I can only hope. Control freak of a mother Carol (an attribute they credit with her being a teacher, in a move I find bothersome on so many levels, but with a show like this am I even surprised) bought the entire family grave plots years ago. Now that Janice is no longer in the family, and now that Carol and Tom have divorced but somehow still spend all their time with each other in their daughter's house, the plots need to be rearranged.
Apparently, this action requires plot-device paperwork, so Arnett has to get his ex-wife, too-good-for-this-show Eliza Coupe, to sign the papers releasing her plot. Eliza Coupe is an incredibly gifted comedian, and she's as close to funny as this show gets, but it isn't enough.
Especially when faced with such nauseating mother hatred as this show exhibits. In the end, nobody wants to be buried by Carol, and in a scene that is more depressing than funny they all slowly move their death avatars as far away from her as possible. Way to rub salt on the wounds there. It's not enough to hint that Carol's controlling tendencies can be infuriating, but they have to show that her family cares so little about her that they don't even want to be near her corpse. That's cruel. Unusually cruel.
This is reinforced earlier when Carol guilts Nathan into giving her a ride, using the 'I gave you life' card. Then Carol almost chokes on a tater tot (which what the how tots are soft) and Nathan saves her. He then promptly says that he gave her life and leaves her to walk home. Charming. I mean, she carried you for nine months and catered to your every need for countless years, but whatevs. You're totally even. Nice burn, Millers!
But all this comes to a sweet emotional climax at the end. Did I say sweet? I meant cold-hearted. Carol is redeemed when Nathan acknowledges they need someone to control the family so that they spend time together. Because of how families don't spend time together unless someone is a completely manipulative control freak. You know, the way most families are. Oh wait.
Some Thoughts:
-I would be much more satisfied if this was a show entirely about JB Smoove and Eliza Couple discussing methods for marathon training. That oven idea? Wonderful. I might have to try that.
-Comeau was downright irksome this episode. His "thing" is thinking he's unique in things that everyone does or thinks. The only thing more irksome than that is Arnett's attention-grabbing need to point this out every time.
-Beau Bridges has one job: yell like a goat-child hybrid. His bleating of lines gets old very quickly.