Pamela Adlon’s nearly singular vision for Better Things has always been bright, even when willing to embrace darkness.

As the show enters its final season, it’s also a triumph. It survived scandal when Adlon’s collaborator and champion Louis C.K. admitted to allegations of sexual misconduct. Adlon, after briefly considering quitting, came back to direct every episode. Onscreen, Adlon’s Sam constantly suffers small career degradations, but like her real-life counterpart she soldiers on; not always with grace, but never without a sense of humor. 

This season is much about goodbye and the definition of home and how it evolves at different stages in our lives. Max (Mikey Madison) is looking for her own apartment. Frankie (Hannah Riley) is contemplating next moves as friends go off to college and Phil (Celia Imrie) is going through a late-life total transformation while Duke (Olivia Edward) remains unflappably wise beyond her years.

Adlon muses, “It’s been a total honor and a pleasure to tell the story of three generations of women in a way that’s relatable to everybody who sees and watches it.” 

Adlon’s Sam gets her own moments and glimpses of better things ahead for herself despite an undercurrent of anxiety about her unavoidable sometimes-empty nest. When she meets a cute park ranger while freeing a pet fish in an urban L.A. lake, it seems a future romance could be in the cards, no matter how awkward their flirting.

“I like the idea of planting things when a show is ending instead of putting everything to bed. I like stirring shit up,” Adlon said.

“When we started the show, Sam was a single mom in her forties who would hook up once in a while and then you see her have an almost-relationship. And I remember being interviewed during seasons two and three and people were very invested in Sam getting together with somebody and I was struck by that. People were afraid for Sam to be alone, and as the years progressed — this started seven years ago — here I am, my kids are all grown and don’t live at the house anymore and I look back at my life in a way that I’ve become very grounded and satisfied, and I am okay with myself. And that’s still a revolutionary act for a woman to feel that way.” 

Adlon ensures Sam has more unexpected events in store, including the still-revolutionary act to just be comfortable in a woman’s body. There’s a very funny episode when Sam discovers menopause.

“Women need to tell each other this stuff,” Adlon said.

“Menopause is this last unspoken thing because it’s shameful and it’s shaming we don’t talk about it. ... I just thought this is just the best way to do it and make it happen to Sam and see how she deals with it as opposed to talking about it later.” 

When all good things come to an end there are inevitable goodbyes. This is also the case for Sam and for Adlon. No spoilers, but life changes put various characters on widely different trajectories and there’s an overall undercurrent of change for everyone in the show. Adlon said she’s still just processing it all now.

“I was so focused on the finish line and making sure that we were able to get through this with everyone’s health and safety in mind that I did not have time for nostalgia. But there were moments that I remember; one moment in particular with Mikey, and I told her a thing that was going to be happening and she burst into tears. It was definitely emotional.” 

On the viewer side of things, Adlon does an excellent job creating the nostalgia she is perhaps just now experiencing herself. In the lovely finale there’s a moment when Duke turns to Sam and tells her simply, “I like you. I like how you’re living your life.” It’s so simple yet so validating to see this single mom who rarely takes time (or even has the time) to acknowledge that what she has built is pretty beautiful because she’s too busy just living the day-to-day life of building it. 

Adlon agrees that more often than not, the show is simply just about that; the little, quiet building moments.

“But to me, these moments are the loudest,” she insisted.

“When all the noise goes away, that’s when you really start to hear and see things. And if you can shut it out, then you can get the magic. I used to walk through my life or just walk through my house and my kids were just like, ‘Mom, mom, mom,’ and I would picture a dome over my head trying to get to my room, or just go to the bathroom and take a shit by myself, and the noise is so crazy and the chaos is so constant. Even trying to go to bed and someone got sick, or the dog ran away, or there’s an earthquake, but when it all stops, that’s when you hear the ringing and it’s just a crazy feeling of just being observational. It’s where I live life; in this reflective place in the world and it’s how I’ve gotten through the hardest moments.” 

Adlon also ensures all her characters get a chance to shine in this final season. No one’s life is tied up in a neat bow. In fact, as she likes it, everyone is left with new question marks, but the question marks are often joyful and full of new potential. Adlon’s advice for writing standout, distinct characters:

“It’s just thinking about each character as if they were a person and how everybody is so different ... really putting through every character in every story and every situation and not letting go. Not saying, ‘We’ve done enough there.’ Not stopping until you’ve got full characters and storylines, and for me, full arcs — especially in this season.” 

As Sam comes to appreciate all the little things in her life, Adlon is also filled with gratitude for the work.

“It was just all wonderful, good, hard work, and I just loved every minute of it ... it was great privilege and I look forward to doing it in the world in other things and other media.”

In the meantime, Adlon reminds us all things can always get better, especially if you are looking for and reminded of all the good. 

Photo: FX