Happy Birthday
Episode 3 of Mr Corman begins with Josh Corman packing up his things and heading over to see his Mum. A man named Larry is there, and things are clearly estranged between the pair. It’s been a year since Larry and his Mum have been hooking up but she’s kept it a secret on account of his break-up with Megan. Josh has obviously been in a delicate place (and not helped by his recent panic attacks.) However, a recurring image in these three episodes so far have been a strange man walking away. Could this be Josh’s Father? Well, there’s certainly no love lost there. A previous fire and potential physical abuse are both dark clouds hanging over the past. At the afternoon’s birthday party, Josh and David don’t see eye to eye. It’s awkward, uncomfortable and eventually, mercifully, comes to an end. Another difficult moment involving his niece Sarah sees Elizabeth and Josh butt heads. There’s a lot of tension in this family, and the pretense of religion and God soon peels away to show the root cause of the issue here. Josh is spiraling out of control, refusing to acknowledge his life now because his past was so chaotic. After a 0failed birthday party, Josh and his Mum eventually drive home again. As they stop by a gas station for a brief respite, the pair burst into song and start dancing around a fantastical landscape. Hey, is this a Schmigadoon cross-over? Anyway, the song comes to an abrupt end as the pair silently drive back home again.
The Episode Review
Toward the end of episode 3 it’s clear that Josh has had a pretty rough childhood but he’s been unable to move on while everyone else has managed to do just that. Much like Schmigadoon, this is a show that feels like it should be binged in one hit and it seems streaming services haven’t quite got that balance right between releasing in one go and spreading episodes out across an extended run-time. Either way, Mr Corman seems to be hiding a lot more under the hood but right now its surface level elements feel like watered down Ribena; there’s flavour here but it’s weak at best. Let’s hope the upcoming episodes improve.
