Splitting Up Together Series Premiere Plot Summary:
Lena (Jenna Fischer), and Martin (Oliver Hudson) announce to their family they’re getting divorced, but will remain under the same roof.
Pilot episodes are always tricky.
The Splitting Up Together pilot was a solid episode that introduced audiences to what could be a fun romantic (ish) comedy series. What I expected to be a twenty something minute set up about a married couple splitting up while living together and continuing their parental and household roles, turned out to be quite the opposite. All of these matters were covered within the first five minutes of the show. I will say if anything, the pacing of this episode was suprisingly on point.
The series (produced by Ellen Degeneres) introduces a pretty fresh concept that on paper fits in nicely with ABC shows like The Middle, The Goldbergs, and Modern Family. Although nothing about the pilot blew my mind, I did enjoy how we already see lead characters Lena (Jenna Fischer) and Martin (Oliver Hudson) second guessing their predicament, whereas I, again, expected more of a set-up type episode.
Fischer is great as the everyday the mother of three trying to ignite some romance into her new lifestyle. She had a few one liners including, “If I was a Ghosbuster with a full time job, how could I be a homeless Ghostbuster?” that had me chuckling. Hudson’s character, Martin is clearly in the wrong for a lot of their relationship issues, but we are already seeing his redeeming qualities early. The character is not a favorite of mine, but I don’t think he necessarily is supposed to be.
The kids really stood out to me as they seemed to accurately depict kids of our era. Although, very little screen time for her, I thought oldest daughter Mae (Olivia Keville) who we learn to be a super feminist, was really great. The funniest part of the show was her drinking out of a coffee mug that read, “Male Tears.”
Again, Fischer really stood out in this one as she navigates her way through some pretty awkward situations with her oldest son. In an attempt to follow doctor’s orders and be supportive of the changes he’s experiencing, she wants to allow him to get a poster of Kate Upton. However, Mae is completely against the idea of her mom allowing this, so this was a fun/awkward scene to watch Lena say yes and no at the same time. When Fisher tries to compromise by creating a room (well, pantry) filled with pictures of strong women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I thought that was a really perfect yet hilarious way to illustrate the predicament she is in.
The conclusion of the episode was solid with the parents working together and agreeing on a Wonder Woman poster. Learning that Martin is making an effort to repair things with his wife, while Lena may be more interested in dating her son’s physician, definitely creates an interesting jumping off point. With fantastic pacing and two or three laugh out loud moments, Splitting Up Together gave us something simple and just enough to tune in for episode two.
Rating: 7 out of 10
-Rob Crowther IV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY5GTen28jw
