Maybe We Could Have Separated From Togetherness A Little Sooner Than We Did

I have really loved a lot of things about Togetherness and I was very sad to learn it wasn't going to continue...but at the same time, now that we've reached the end, I have to agree with my year-ago self that the Season 1 finale would have been a beautiful way to end these characters' stories -- to leave them in the middle of the biggest decisions of their lives, and leave us with so much to discuss about where we think they might be headed. Season 2 answered some of those questions for us, but those answers felt disappointing more often than not.

Probably the biggest challenge to me as a viewer was how much of the story in Season 2 required me invest in Brett and Michelle's marriage. The way the tensions between them in Season 1 caused each partner to find a surrogate for the other led plots in genuinely risky directions: Brett's connection to Linda was, in particular, a relationship I feel like I've never seen on TV before and was the only time his character was interesting to me, and if Michelle and David's mutual crush was a bit more rote, Melanie Lynskey and John Ortiz compensated for some slightly predictable plotting with great performances and real chemistry. But once the viewer learned, in the Season 2 premiere, that David and Michelle had actually slept together in Sacramento, all that dramatic interest was gone: we were expected to believe that Brett was so firmly entrenched in his new positive attitude that he couldn't see Michelle practically vibrating with guilt over her terrible secret? Only in the corniest of sitcoms does lying that inept go undetected.

And now that we've gotten to know them better, I'm also not convinced that Brett and Michelle actually are right for each other. Even if one takes into account the inherent excitement of a new affair compared to a marriage of fairly long standing, Brett definitely seemed to be experiencing more joy in of his time with Natalie than he ever did with Michelle; and in David, Michelle found someone who believed she was exciting and capable and smart. I guess we're supposed to think it's good for Sophie and Frankie if their parents are going to stay together, but is it? Because all I see in Brett and Michelle's future after this separation is their falling back into the same habits that led to the problems in their marriage in the first place, because they still haven't actually dealt with any of that shit. Brett telling Michelle in the finale that she'd apologized enough does in no way assure me that her infidelity won't come up the next time they fight over, like, who forgot to move the car on street cleaning day.

Michelle's solo storyline -- setting up a charter school -- doesn't make her look the best, either. A case could be made that she really only decided to get really involved in the project in the first place as a pretext for spending time with David, and then had no choice but to take over as its leader after things between the two of them fell apart after their one-night stand. But following her heartfelt hearing testimony in the Season 1 finale, nothing Michelle has done in Season 2 has really contributed to the impression that she's at all prepared to make the school dream a reality; Anna wouldn't have been able to ooze into a leadership position as a preface for usurping Michelle entirely if Michelle had projected anything but weakness, vulnerability, and panic -- and yes, I realize she was going through a true personal crisis in her marriage that caused her to lose focus, but when you're working for yourself, that...can't happen. The sensible response to Anna's coup at this point in Michelle's life would be to let her take it over, and watching her spend the last two episodes scrambling to prove she's got a plan for the school -- motivated primarily by spite, from what we can tell -- was a betrayal of her character that, combined with the misogynist conception of Anna as a character, made me grateful the show was ending. (Sidebar: if you're one of the parents of a prospective student and your possible future headmaster calls you up to participate in a caper involving THEFT OF SAND FROM A PUBLIC BEACH, how do you not politely decline and either throw your support behind Anna or take out a personal loan for private school? That is not how you engender confidence in your professional qualifications, Michelle!)

Alex and Tina's story, and stories, have been less infuriating, fortunately. The ways in which Alex evolved after getting his acting career on more solid footing were subtly done: he's still been basically the same guy, just one with a girlfriend way hotter than the Season 1 sad sack ever would have dared dream of dating and more opportunities to talk about how much money he makes. Ultimately, he's still the same good friend he's been to Brett since they were kids, up to and including supporting Brett's vision for Dune: The Puppet Show past the point where there was really any reason to do so other than love.

Alex's firm boundaries with Tina represented another evolution for his character, forcing her to take a more serious look at her own relationships and how much she gives compared to what she takes. Did we need to see each and every one of Frankie's diaper explosions, while Tina was looking after Brett and Michelle's kids, to understand the sacrifices Tina was making in order to become a better person? Probably not. But I'm not sure early Season 1 Tina would have been able to take over housekeeping for Michelle during her nervous breakdown if Tina's time with Alex hadn't taught her how to be unselfish, even when it sucks.

That said, Tina's baby fever was another of my least favourite Season 2 developments. The way the show left things in Season 1 with regard to her business was kind of vague: did her moving in with Larry automatically mean she was accepting his offer to take care of her and giving up on taking care of herself? In the second episode of Season 2, we see her reading a textbook in his hot tub, so presumably she's taking some kind of class, but all of that is forgotten as soon as a few days of nannying convinces Tina that the new object of her entrepreneurial passion is having a child of her own. I appreciate that Larry gets the chance to explain to Tina, with love and respect, that his parenting years are behind him -- even if it leads to a classic too-neat sitcom breakup as he releases her to go find someone who does want to put a baby in her -- but I hate the idea that motherhood is portrayed as the thing that's going to straighten Tina out and give her life meaning -- and that's assuming her elderly eggs even can be fertilized, which: who knows. Also, in the season finale, we see Tina at a gynecologist appointment to assess her fertility; how is she paying for this? Did Larry add her to his health insurance and forget to take her off? Because I'm afraid I don't believe her couch-surfing ass could pay for her own.

Tina's sudden desire to become a parent is of a piece with Michelle's fervor to set up her school: essentially feminine projects we're supposed to admire because they underline the characters' drive to be nurturers. Meanwhile, though we hear that Brett is a great father who, even during his marital separation, is spending lots of time with his kids, we don't see much of that; what we mostly see him doing is working on his art. Only at the very end of the season must Brett face the reality that this time has been a waste and the product he's created a failure -- until, improbably, it can be reconfigured in twenty-four hours as a vehicle to support Michelle's vision and convince voting parents that covering kids in glitter is a good enough substitute for an academic curriculum. (It's eastside L.A., so that actually works.) I feel like the art project that is Togetherness similarly lost its way at some point, but given how much I loved the first season, I hope the second can be broken down for parts to be rebuilt into something captivating in the future.