The ninth episode of Casual season 3 has Valerie meeting her family and Alex getting a new romance. Here’s what happened in season 3, episode 9.
This week’s episode of Hulu‘s Casual gave fans what we’ve been waiting for: the moment where Valerie meets her half-brother. Of course, to offset that, her other half-brother Alex gets into more trouble in “Fresno.”
Valerie (Michaela Watkins) may have raged at her brother for trying to get involved in her family drama, but she has no problem bringing along her psuedo-boyfriend Jack (Kyle Bornheimer) to meet her half-brother Rich.
Rich is utterly normal, which in the world of Casual translates to boring. Val can’t connect with him and she’s frustrated by all the things he knows about their father that she never will. It’s no real surprise that the meeting doesn’t go well. The only positive, if you can call it that, is that she and Jack finally get onto the same page.
Back at home, Alex (Tommy Dewey) tries unsuccessfully to ask out Judy (Judy Greer). Being turned down doesn’t play well with Alex’s neuroses, and he’s determined to change her mind even when it involves hearing stuff he doesn’t want to:
"Alex: Is something wrong with me?Rae: Yes.Alex: No, seriously."
Alex thinks he’s going to impress Judy by letting the company use his house for a photo shoot. This proves to be the worst decision Casual has ever let him make, as the place is wrecked. The most sad scene in “Fresno” isn’t anything to do with Val’s dad but rather the death of Alex’s beloved waffle maker.
At least his explosion prompts him to confide in Judy, and there may actually be hope for them yet, if not for his house. The addition of Judy Greer has been one of the best parts of Casual season 3 and it’s nice to see Alex moving ahead in life, especially as other characters get kicked back.
Case in point, Laura (Tara Lynne Barr) gets nudged into speaking at a town council through a combination of her growing feelings for Casey (Nadine Nicole) and her continued search for purpose, only to realize that Casey is leaving. Once again Laura has leaped before she looked and hit the ground.
And after Casual omitted them last week, we get to see that Leon (Nyasha Hatendi) and Leia (Julie Berman) — who, speaking of normal, lives in an utterly adorable pad that you’d never expect — are doing well as a couple. Leia wants Leon to move in with her, if only so he’s got a place to stay. And it’s nice to see the contrast of them versus the disorder of everyone else.
“Fresno” is the episode that the entire third season of Casual somewhat hangs on, in the sense that we’ve been waiting for this ever since it was revealed that Charles wasn’t Valerie’s father in the season premiere. It pays off in some ways, and not so much in others.
It’s not a huge shocker that Val doesn’t fit in with Rich and his family; that’s a big ask to connect with someone who lives an entirely different life. Could it have gone better if she hadn’t had too much to drink (presumably) and made the dinner conversation awkward? Probably.
It would have been nice to have that work out a bit nicer, or at least be a little more about the family, whereas it sometimes came off as less about that and more as a device in her ongoing relationship dilemma with Jack.
Kyle Bornheimer is even better this season than he was last season. His character in season 2 came off as a manipulative jerk, but he’s grown and matured, which is impressive on a show where characters do fall into the same holes on occasion.
Like poor Laura: she lost Aubrey, then Spencer, now Casey, all for various reasons but you have to wonder when she’s going to take a step back and hold onto something. That seems to be the ongoing battle in Casual; the right versus the right now. And always making sure you protect your waffle iron.
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New episodes of Casual stream Tuesdays on Hulu. For more on Casual season 3 and everything in summer TV, be sure to follow the Television category at FanSided here.