Casual season 3, episodes 1-3 recap: The more things change

Hulu’s Casual returned for season 3 on Tuesday, and the first three episodes prove that the show has only gotten funnier and more biting at the same time.

There’s something about Hulu‘s Casual that you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s hilarious, yet it can make you depressed. It’s memorable, yet you might wind up emotional. And now in season 3, we might all be having a midlife crisis.

It’s no wonder why Hulu released the first three episodes of the season together, because they feel as if they’re three parts of one connected prologue to the next chapter of Valerie, Alex and Laura’s journey. And as always with Casual, it’s one that you’re both thrilled and scared to be a part of.

Season 3 picks up a short time after the morbid ending of season 2, in which the trio helped Val and Alex’s father Charles (Fred Melamed) commit suicide, and then Val and Laura (Tara Lynne Barr) moved out of Alex’s house.

Alex and Val may have gone their separate ways but we find them complaining about being unable to go their separate ways. Essentially, what you’re watching at the start of the season is a divorce.

Episode 1 is called “Ashes to Ashes” and deals with them trying to figure out what to do with both the remains of Charles and the remains of their lives. Val hates her landlord; Alex can’t keep a roommate. They both don’t know how to act around each other, but the real laughs come oh so painfully at the end of the episode, when Casual drops a huge spoiler that changes the entire course of the series. We won’t even mention it here because the entire viewing experience is made by the reveal.

Episode 2 makes a nod to an underrated film with the title “Things To Do In Burbank When You’re Dead,” and it’s one of Casual‘s best episodes. The whole half hour is a walk and talk between Val and Alex as they discuss what we all learned at the end of the first episode, and it allows us to see just how talented Michaela Watkins and Tommy Dewey both are — and how well developed their chemistry has become. It’s also nice to see Casual take a break and do something entirely out of the box.

Then there’s episode 3, which is referred to simply as “The Table,” and no, it doesn’t go along with those two thousand dollars worth of chairs Alex bought (and then got rid of) last season. Both he and Val are looking for something new to put their lives on a fresh track, away from all the drama that comes with killing your father and dealing with your crazy mother. For Valerie, that’s a new table she bought for her house. But like a perfect metaphor for life, the table doesn’t quite turn out the way she planned.

Fans should watch all three episodes together for maximum effect. But if it’s possible, Casual has gotten even more bittersweet in season 3. It was always about the happiness in dysfunction, the right turns when everyone else was going left. Yet who can’t identify with Alex, Laura and Val as they all thought they had what they wanted and suddenly they don’t even know what’s left? We’ve all been trying to pick up the pieces, and that’s what makes these first three episodes so poignant.

At the same time, the show finds plenty of opportunities for laughs, most notably Leon (Nyasha Hatendi) being treated like the kid who doesn’t know which parent he’s supposed to go with in the split, and Val telling Leia (Julie Berman) to get a real career before it’s too late. Katie Aselton is back, too, playing Val’s ex-BFF Jennifer who’s still trying to decode Alex’s brain.

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If you enjoyed Casual season 2, you’ll love Casual season 3. Just be prepared — it will cause you to also re-examine all of your life choices. Probably while trying not to laugh.