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The Comeback<\/a><\/p>\n Valerie Faces Reality<\/p>\n \n Season 3<\/p>\n Episode 3\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 5 stars<\/p>\n *****\n <\/p>\n \n An episode that touches on the absence of Mickey finds the tonal balance of finding comedy while delivering a surprisingly emotional punch. Ever since a third season of The Comeback was announced, I wondered how the show would address the absence of Mickey, an indelible presence throughout the first two seasons played by the late Robert Michael Morris. And while season three has honored him in small but meaningful ways, it was starting to seem like the series wouldn\u2019t linger too much on such a somber subject. Perhaps that\u2019s why \u201cValerie Faces Reality\u201d caught me (and my tear ducts) so off-guard \u2014 it\u2019s the most Mickey-centric episode so far, and it packs a surprisingly emotional punch. I know I complained last week<\/a> that The Comeback might be focusing too much on story over jokes, but this is exactly the kind of tonal balancing act I come to this show for. I laughed, I cried, I made grotesque noises doing both at the same time.<\/p>\n We open with Valerie recording her podcast Cherish the Time with Tommy, a character I may have been too hard on when he was introduced in the season premiere<\/a>. Yes, he\u2019s obviously there to fill the space that Mickey has left, but that\u2019s a really tough act to follow, and director-turned-actor Jack O\u2019Brien is doing a nice job making Tommy his own character. It helps that The Comeback is very aware of how this looks to viewers \u2014\u00a0I should have had more faith in the always-meta series to address the elephant in the room. Jane arrives late to film, explaining that she was delayed by work. \u201cIf I had an Oscar, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be working at Trader Joe\u2019s,\u201d Tommy says. Instinctively, Val replies, \u201cMickey, don\u2019t.\u201d The comment hangs there awkwardly, and it won\u2019t be the last time this episode Tommy\u2019s role as the de facto \u201cnew Mickey\u201d is called into question.<\/p>\n When Val arrives at the How\u2019s That?! set, Mickey is still on her mind. She notes that Stage 24 is where Now, Voyager, Mickey\u2019s favorite movie, was filmed. Val recalls that Mickey would always say, \u201cLet\u2019s not shoot for the moon when we have the stars,\u201d and whether that\u2019s Val\u2019s misquote or Mickey\u2019s, I\u2019m charmed all the same. Once inside, we meet the cast of the sitcom, including Frank Flynn (Tim Bagley), who briefly popped up last season<\/a> when he was playing Gary the Worm on Tom Peterman\u2019s kids\u2019 show. As someone who misses Somebody Somewhere<\/a> dearly, I\u2019m just happy to have Bagley back on HBO. Another returning actor: Matt Cook, who previously played Ivan, one of the documentary crew members in season two. Here, he\u2019s Petey P, an actor portraying triplets on How\u2019s That?! Ivan was Petey\u2019s twin brother, and we learn that he died of an overdose eight years ago. \u201cHe Heath Ledger-ed out,\u201d Petey shares, a line that makes both Patience and me grimace. But the scene takes a turn when Petey starts to cry. Sure, Val shows a familiar lack of self-awareness when she says she can relate because her character\u2019s brother dies on How\u2019s That?!, but we know that Val herself is mourning real loss in her life. \u201cDeath hurts, right?\u201d she continues. \u201cYou\u2019ve got nothing but love and support here.\u201d It\u2019s oddly moving, even if the moment is immediately ruined by Billy showing up and complaining about not having his own parking spot.<\/p>\n Before rehearsal begins, Jimmy tells Val the episode needs a more human scene. She suggests something between Beth and Bo, her last remaining family member \u2014\u00a0I love Val in executive producer mode! \u2014\u00a0and Jimmy agrees. Writer\u2019s assistant Marco (Oh, Mary\u2019s Tony Macht) is able to get the new scene produced with terrifying speed, and soon enough, Valerie is performing it alongside her co-star Dean (Zane Phillips), who\u2019s playing the hunky nephew. \u201cYour dad had the biggest heart, Bo,\u201d Beth says. \u201cProbably just got tired of carrying so much love.\u201d It\u2019s not great, but what can you reasonably expect from Al? Josh, who didn\u2019t do any of the writing on the added moment, is equally unimpressed. He calls it an \u201caww, ick,\u201d meaning it makes audiences go \u201caww\u201d and writers go \u201cick\u201d thanks to its treacly sentimentality. Mary arrives to try to rein in her husband-slash-writing partner, but Josh isn\u2019t having it. \u201cI\u2019m the voice of the women of a certain age!\u201d he insists. Meanwhile, Jimmy is more concerned that AI is able to instantly produce a decent scene. Jane asks Val what she thinks, as if she\u2019d ever cop to her own anxiety over the technology. \u201cWe needed a new scene, got a new scene,\u201d Val deflects.<\/p>\n She is less nonchalant when it comes to her interaction with How\u2019s That?! wardrobe supervisor Carter (Benito Skinner). Much to her horror, Valerie discovers that her character is once again being dressed to be the butt of the joke \u2014\u00a0the inspirations that Carter is pulling from are Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond, Mrs. Roper from Three\u2019s Company, and Bea Arthur as Maude. Carter asks if Val will have her hair up and gray, since the script says Beth is a \u201cwoman of a certain age.\u201d (Take a shot every time you hear this phrase on The Comeback, but only if your liver is in good shape.) While Valerie gave in and wore the tracksuit (and the giant cupcake costume) on Room & Bored, she has grown and learned how to advocate for herself since then. And she\u2019s not playing Aunt Sassy! \u201cI\u2019m more than willing to do that if that\u2019s what the character is,\u201d she tells Carter. \u201cBut this character is moving story along and having feelings.\u201d Carter is, I\u2019ll say it, a real dick in response, dismissing Valerie as an actress trying to dictate wardrobe. She\u2019s then forced to pull rank as an executive producer, declaring that she won\u2019t try on any of the caftans he\u2019s pulled. \u201cI liked seeing you like that,\u201d Jane says after the blow-up, and there\u2019s real affection in her voice. I don\u2019t blame her; it really is thrilling to watch Val assert herself. She does seem a little freaked out by Jane\u2019s description of her as \u201cboss lady,\u201d though, and she ends up returning to wardrobe to make amends. Carter doesn\u2019t deserve your grace, Val!<\/p>\n After the scuffle, Valerie is excited to debrief with Tommy over salads the way that she and Mickey used to do, but he doesn\u2019t eat in public. (Relatable!) A bigger issue arises when Val realizes that Tommy doesn\u2019t have her wigs. Mickey would have picked them up himself or reminded Val to bring them to set, she explains. \u201cI\u2019m not Mickey,\u201d Tommy replies. \u201cI\u2019ll never be Mickey. Mickey isn\u2019t here.\u201d It\u2019s another meta moment for the show and a painful one for Valerie, who is still in denial about how much Mickey\u2019s absence continues to affect her. She and Tommy exchange apologies, but when he tells her that it seems like she has \u201cunfinished business\u201d with Mickey, she brushes him off. Clearly, he\u2019s onto something \u2014 we next see Val waking up in the middle of the night, asking where Mickey is. She\u2019s referring to the box holding his remains, which appears to have been misplaced. That prompts a trip to her storage locker and a furious search. She tells Jane that Mickey had held a prime spot next to her People\u2019s Choice Award when she and Mark lived in Brentwood, but she was waiting to find the right place to spread his ashes. Now, she\u2019s found it in Stage 24, and the remains are M.I.A. \u201cCan\u2019t have lost Mickey, right? Bad enough I couldn\u2019t be with him at the hospital,\u201d Val says. \u201cRemember COVID? Wouldn\u2019t let us visit. Couldn\u2019t visit. Wouldn\u2019t let me in. Didn\u2019t want him to, you know, just be there alone, sick.\u201d She\u2019s crying, and you better believe I am, too.<\/p>\n But tomorrow is another day, and we\u2019ve got a sitcom to make. It\u2019s the first dress rehearsal, and Val enters wearing a giant hat that makes it look like she\u2019s on safari. This is a concession to Carter, who apparently never saw Val\u2019s starring role on Mrs. Hatt and isn\u2019t worried about the association. Valerie is relieved when Jimmy asks her to lose the hat because he can\u2019t see her eyes, but Carter\u2019s choice for Val\u2019s co-star, Gabrielle (Brittany O\u2019Grady), turns out to be the bigger problem. Per the script, the character of Lori is supposed to enter wearing a Mianus U shirt \u2014 yes, Mianus is a real place in Connecticut \u2014\u00a0and the costume department has put her in a sexy crop top instead. Josh interrupts rehearsal to have a full-blown meltdown over the outfit change. \u201cThis show doesn\u2019t work without Mianus U!\u201d he screams before storming off to fire Carter. It\u2019s an incredible tantrum to witness; this is why you hire John Early.<\/p>\n In the aftermath, something more important happens: Tommy finds the box of Mickey\u2019s remains, tucked in with Valerie\u2019s good wigs. Her face at being reunited with Mickey is enough to get me emotional again \u2014\u00a0Lisa Kudrow is so damn good at this. Val, Patience, Jane, and the rest of the documentary crew sneak up to the scaffolding above Stage 24 to scatter the ashes. \u201cDear Mickey, I wish you were here,\u201d Val says as she dumps the box. \u201cBut why ask for the moon when we had the stars?\u201d If you\u2019re not fully weeping at this point, what\u2019s wrong with you? That Donna Summer\u2019s \u201cLast Dance\u201d is playing only makes the moment more poignant. Of course, The Comeback makes sure to end on a laugh, with security demanding that Val and the others get down from the scaffolding as the credits start rolling. But I have to commend this show for leaning so hard into genuine emotion, even if Josh might think it\u2019s \u201caww, ick.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 First laugh-out-loud moment of the episode: Val\u2019s explanation of the appeal of podcasts. \u201cThey\u2019re supposed to be sloppy and unprofessional,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s the charm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Jane has an appropriately horrified reaction to Mark doing Finance Dudes. \u201cWhy should I be the only person not on a reality show?\u201d he reasons. \u201cGot our own Mauricio right here,\u201d says Valerie, who has evidently been keeping up with Mauricio Umansky\u2019s TV work outside of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 There are so many great Val moments on the backlot. I was tickled by, \u201cNo notes from NuNet! No, No, Nanette! That\u2019s a show, yeah. I never saw it, but I know the title.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 When a passerby compliments Jane on her hat, Val explains, \u201cMrs. Hatt fan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Valerie gushes over Private Benjamin when she learns that it was also filmed on Stage 24. Of course, the real standout on the list of previous productions is Joker: Folie \u00e0 Deux. Safe to say the set is cursed.<\/p>\n \u2022 As was the case last week, I\u2019m less enthused about the reference to Kudrow\u2019s most famous sitcom. What is the in-show explanation for Jane getting the camera to zoom in on Friends on the list of Stage 24\u2019s past tenants?<\/p>\n \u2022 Since I\u2019ve mentioned the rest of Val\u2019s castmates, I wanted to shout out the always great Barry Shabaka Henley, who plays Walter, the actor portraying Sheriff Charlie Baker on How\u2019s That?! (Every time I try to make sense of this sitcom, I remember it was literally written by AI.)<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Vulture Newsletter<\/p>\n Entertainment news, for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Erin Simkin\/HBO\n <\/p>\n