Take the worst parts of the first episode and the best parts of the second episode and you pretty much have “The Truth Hurts”. “The Truth Hurts” felt a bit schizophrenic, while there were some amazing character moments, how the characters got there felt forced or just out of left field. And I’m going to say it: I’m over Buck. It is now 3 episodes in and the only alter we’ve seen is Buck – and I’m officially bored. So, let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and dogs in the bathtub.
The episode opens with Tara making a video log – it’s been 2 weeks since Buck has been dating Pammy. She has made the decision to not tell Max because he’s been so happy with her progress and for the first time in their marriage, she is lying to him. We learned last season that Alice is in charge of all of Tara’s alters, so why hasn’t she appeared in the 2 weeks since Tara started transitioning again? Why is only Buck appearing?
Tara then does what was both the most interesting and confusing part of the episode: She pretends to be Buck and visits Pammy. While it was great seeing Tara try to impersonate one of her own personalities (kudos for Toni Collette’s acting in the scene), it is unclear what she was trying to accomplish. She pretends to be Buck until Pammy stars kissing her and then breaks character revealing who she really is. If Tara went to Pammy’s just to tell her Buck is an alter, why dress up like him? Pammy met Tara before. Then Pammy breaks down and accuses Tara of being the alter – she also keeps referring to Buck as “he”. That makes no sense, how could she think Tara is an alter when Buck has, you know, a vagina. What did she think Buck was for the past 2 weeks? It was an interesting scene that made absolutely no sense.
Marshall’s relationship with Kimmy is plodding along. While Kimmy has Marshall explore their sexuality, it’s pretty clear that Marshall is not a fan. It’s pretty clear that Marshall’s straight days are coming to an end. Tara talks to gay neighbor, Ted, and Charmaine about Marshall’s new heterosexuality. Charmaine makes a big reveal that she was a proud lesbian for a semester in college. I get that the theme here is the exploration of sexuality, but overall, this season has really been making gays look bad. Either they are horrible stereotypes like Lionel (who made a brief cameo in a pink V-neck, no less) or they choose to be gay like Charmaine, Pammy, and, to a small extent, Marshall and Jason. Hopefully they will give the gay storyline a bit more dignity by the end of the season.
Max and Neil (Patton Oswalt) are waiting for Sully, the plumber, who is 3 hours late. Neil thinks Sully’s screwing them, Max is more optimistic. “People Change.” This little motto is what is keeping Max motivated and will latter break him when he’s proven wrong. Right now, Max is high on life with Tara overcoming her D.I.D. and Marshall being with a girl. While Sully never shows, Charmaine does – talking about her engagement ring. Neil is heartbroken, holding onto a dream that they would end up together. I’m sure we all can see where this will end up…
Kate goes back to Lynda P. Frazier because her check bounced. They get stoned (I don’t know, does anyone else think it’s a bit creepy for a middle aged woman to smoke out a 16-year-old?) and Kate dresses up like Lynda’s alter-ego, Princess Valhalla Hawkwind. Not very interesting. Maybe it’s that Kate has nothing to do, she is pretty much written as an adult (a pot smoking working girl) not the rebellious teen from season 1.
The episode ends with a punch, literally. Tara wants to put a little fun in their lives and has a family trip to the ice skating rink. Pammy follows them and garbs the microphone from the DJ (who also stops the music for her, because they like random people making announcements) and professes her love to Buck and Tara.
“All I’ve done is be good to you. All I’ve ever done is be good to you.”
Max’s reaction was spot on: His world imploded, people don’t change. He leaves Tara and the kids at the skating rink and confronts Sully about getting the money back for the job he flaked. Turns out, Sully was throwing his daughter a party – most likely on Max’s dime. Max finally losses it and beats Sully up. Awesome. It was the most real reaction to anything that has happened this season and hopefully will play out more in future episodes.
Meanwhile, Tara transitions to Buck and breaks down in the men’s room. Why would Buck cry? Why would Buck be the goto alter for this situation? If they are going to spend so much time on one alter, at least let us know more about him. But we know nothing more about Buck than we did last season. His storyline has been expanded but not his character – wasted opportunity and, ultimately, kind of boring.
While the story is still a bit stagnant and the characters still make illogical choices, “The Truth Hurts” had some great character beats and sets up a good conflict for future episodes. Will Tara hit its stride again? I hope, but only time will tell.
