On Wednesday, FX released a stunning trailer for the fifth and final season of Pamela Adlon’s beloved comedy-drama series. Better things. In it, Adlon transitions into single motherhood, returns to her acting career, and fends off “OK Boomer” taunts from her teenage daughters. “For the last time,” she snapped, “I’m not a Boomer. I am Generation X.”
After years of putting family and career first, season five sees Adlon’s Sam Fox trying to find his own path. “I need to move forward,” she tells her agent in the trailer. But along the way, she still has to deal with the messy, obnoxious, and often heartbreaking moments that come with raising three daughters. Not to mention, she is dealing with an aging mother who is starting to show signs of age.
The new trailer captures the Emmy-winning show’s ingenuity in balancing the weight of mundane drama with hilarious humour. In one scene, Sam is talking in front of a middle school class when a student pulls up his phone to Google “who is the old fox actor”. The search turned up a PG-13 image of Sam lying on the bed in her underwear. “Oh, no, no, no! Don’t Google me! ” she pleads helplessly (and happily) as the kids pass cell phones.
Mikey Madison, Hannah Riley and Olivia Edward return as Sam’s daughter, while Celia Imrie takes on the role of Sam’s mother. It’s been two years since the last season of Better things airing and the upcoming fifth season is all about three generations of women reflecting on and learning about themselves as they enter new stages of their lives.
The bittersweet finale premieres on FX and Hulu on Monday, February 28.
