2009 seemed to be a great year for new TV on Showtime and HBO. Just look at the list of shows: Bored to Death, Nurse Jackie, Eastbound & Down, and the breakout hit, winner of multiple Emmy Awards, which in it's second season got picked up for a third season two episodes in, the United States of Tara. All of these shows are still with us, making us laugh without commercial interruptions.
I'll admit I only began watching Tara because it was written by Diablo Cody, who had done work on a movie that I hold dear: Juno. I did not worship her (nor have I read Candy Girl), but I had Showtime, and at most I could watch one episode and if I wasn't hooked, I would move on. In fact, going in, I didn't know who was in it, or what it was about, but the sheer fact I had subscribed to Cody's Myspace blog and saw promotional materials, I could spare 30 minutes.
If this blog will show any testament, I became almost an instant fan (Nurse Jackie taking longer to make the rounds). When I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I was excited to see Brie Larson singing as Envy Adams. The impact of the show had spread to outside of the TV. With friends, I would discuss our enthusiasm and how the 10 months between seasons kind of sucked. I longed to be back in the world to see how things would work out.
And yet, when I was on my way to the ArcLight and my friend told me that the show had been canceled, I was not overcome with grief. It wasn't necessarily relief, either. I kind of felt that over the three seasons, the show had reached it's peak and to continue on would be an arguable act of ruining a great show with a stellar central cast (and one of my favorite comedians, Patton Oswalt).
I decided to take some breathing room before sharing my thoughts on why the show wasn't good enough for a fourth season. It's controversial to let go of something you love, but as the finale is less than a week away, I kind of felt I'd look back on what this show meant to me, and why I stuck by it.
(What is to follow will contain spoilers from different points in the United States of Tara storyline from all seasons)
Let's meet the Gregsons:
Tara (Toni Collete) is married to Max (John Corbett) who together have a daughter named Kate (Brie Larson) and a son named Marshall (Keir Gilchrist). Tara has a sister named Charmaine Crane (Rosemarie DeWitt) who is married to Neil Kowalshi (Patton Oswalt) in season 2.
As stated earlier, I was familiar with the show since the pilot episode, where in the opening shot, after a title card, we see Tara explain to a camera that she has a condition called dissociative identity disorder (DID), which causes her to alternate between personalities when she is stressed. The episode also does a fine job of introducing us to Max, who is very protective of Tara and one day wants a cure.
The episode does a great job of opening the show with introducing everyone's relationship to DID. As the season continues, the kids both begin to question their relationship with a mother who cannot be fully there and causes Kate to take some bizarre jobs, including a restaurant, an online Valhalla goddess that sits on cakes, and a stewardess in love with a regular customer. Marshall takes longer to express his difference as a homosexual, choosing only to ogle men from afar.
Through all of this, the family and Charmaine have to deal with Tara's disorder, which spends a fair amount of time in the first season just being displayed. We are introduced to T's teenage behavior, Alice's 50's mother tendencies, and Buck (a war vet who lost his penis during the war) who is just a bad ass biker. By the time an episode is through, it's no wonder that the entire family has their own personal demons.
This is essentially what makes the show charming. With plenty of the familiar Cody dialog finally put into a context where every character sounds quirky yet realistic, an average episode spends more time creating these deeply complex characters and how they go through life, having to deal with Tara. She may be the titular focus, but just as much time is focused on Marshall and Kate (my favorite from this show) and actually captures harsh realities of facing a world intolerant to your way of life, including their mother's various personalities.
I was fine with the alters, as this was the point of the show. However, the novelty of episodes based around the characters could only hold strong merit for one season. By season 2, they needed to have things rolling...
Which they did with the introduction of alter Shoshana Schoenbaum. Inspired by a book that Tara received, the alter managed to analyze the complexities of Tara's minds. Afterall, Schoenbaum was very psychological and was more perceived as a therapist.
I felt that up to this point, the show had been running solid. The alters were starting to be put in line and we were discovering more and more about Tara's past, not only through Schoenbaum, but through her family, which through various episodes and conversations, revealed tender moments that made the DID seem more tragic. Schoenbaum only helped to centralize and focus this.
There was a rather pointless relationship between Buck and Pammy (Joey Lauren Adams) that I felt went nowhere and ended awkwardly, but that was only a small bump in what was turning out into a well fleshed show with each character getting a respectable amount of plot and screen time.
One thing that may come across as controversial is my views that episodes leading up to Charmaine and Neil's wedding, there was a little problem that may have almost jeopardized the show.
Many fans probably enjoyed it, but I was not a fan of the alter known as Chicken. I understood the significance of the character: a five year old version of Tara and her relationship with Charmaine. I could accept that this was to help us understand Tara's childhood, but in the context of the episodes it surrounded, it felt a little like a desperate jump.
I felt that with Schoenbaum, the show was progressing to solving the complex mindset. With Chicken, it felt more like the Scrappy Doo of the series, mostly there for comical effects and some exposition from Charmaine. Somehow, despite an excellent season, I felt that undermined the season 2 finale by having Chicken ruin the wedding.
It's not that it felt cheap, but creating havoc in the scenario felt pointless when there were so many loose ends going crazy: Kate's career, Marshall's relationship, Max trying to solve everything, and Tara trying to be Tara. Sure, a twist of some unseen future would've implied craziness, but still... I felt Chicken was more a retread for the show.
There's certain points that I felt season 3 improved and others that fell apart. The show, still well structured for the most part, began to feel a little contrived in dialog when Marshall's insults felt more like page readings.
However, Marshall's storyline where he and Max go to New York to attend a film festival (featuring an uncameo by David Lynch) seemed like a sweet touch where they got to bond away from Tara. It kind of felt fresh and introduced a new light to them, even though the essential ending to the story was a movie about the dysfunctional family.
Kate, still indecisive of her future, took a job as a stewardess and fell in love with a passenger. Her part seemed greatly diminished, however she still managed to maintain the title of best written character on the show for whatever moments she had to shine.
There was even some focus on Charmain and Neil's relationship, and eventual birth of their child. Oddly enough, Chicken was again ineffectively used and almost ruined the labor process entirely. While I found it shoddy, it did manage to add to the eventual storyline of Charmain and Tara losing trust in each other.
For most of the season, it's again a roulette of alters, which I felt went from the refined three and has only expanded to make Tara's character look a little ridiculous in scope. It almost feels at times like it's alter of the week.
However, I was totally into the part of the season when the Schoenbaum concept was still in strong effect, where through personal psychosis, Tara was beginning to take control of herself. I felt that if this show needed to continue for another season, it would need to eventually eliminate the alters and focus more on the central family life.
I mean, it kind of feels that into three seasons, the alters concept might get ridiculous and monotonous, especially after you ask yourself where you can go from Chicken. The whole concept of going back to school and getting treatment from her teacher (Eddie Izzard), seemed like a brilliant way to transition.
Yet somehow, when the show ditched the concept halfway through the season, it felt like the show was starting to halt on progressive storytelling. The real savior, however, came in the introduction of the psychotic alter Bryce, which supposedly killed Chicken and was coming for the others.
Bryce had threatened the teacher and was coming after the family, scaring away the other alters and insulting Max, Kate, and Marshall in masochistic fashion.
While Bryce seemed like a good idea, the introduction seemed a little awkward to be that late in the season. However, it still was a very interesting idea and I feel that despite it, the slow reveal felt commonplace enough to not make it seem like a big deal.
So, with the family starting to come together and fear for Tara's sanity (the second to last episode ended with Max driving Tara to a psychiatric), how exactly can the show progress? Would season 4 just end up being Bryce being a psychopath on the lam? The vibe of the past three seasons feel terribly wrong to do that, yet to destroy the Bryce character in one episode seems like lazy storytelling.
I feel that the show has written itself into a corner, albeit in a very interesting way. I would love for them to be able to find a plausible way to work out the situation, but let me be honest. I enjoy this show because it's not just about Tara. It's about her family. Right now the family is trying to help Tara, thus the plot is now about Tara, leaving little chance for other character development.
I'm sure there would be some great In Treatment style stories in the upcoming season if it were to happen, but the atmosphere would be greatly changed to the point that the show may seem indistinguishable, turning into an all-out drama.
However, it does seem weird how one season ended with a juvenile character sabotaging her sister's wedding, and the next (remember, the finale is next week) season features a lot of dark stuff (after all, Bryce is based on someone that molested her).
There is one light, in the recent episodes, the family's personal bond has been heartfelt, even when they are starting to lose faith in Tara's recovery. The family has gained that trust to become sympathetic characters. I'm just worried that in the next season it will turn into a downright depressing show altogether.
So, to say the least, I am not that sad that the show is going to be gone soon. True, I would love to see more Tara stories, but based on the route it chose, I don't feel it'll be a fulfilling one for the viewers. I will still enjoy productions involving these actors/producers/writers.
It has been a great three seasons, and as a fan of every season (even with it's flaws), I'm going to miss it, but hope to turn more friends on to it so we can relish in what was one of my favorite character studies on recent TV.
And now, to end on a happy note, the opening credits.
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