‘Togetherness’ Recap, Season One, Episode One: “Family Day”

Indie filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass, had their television debut last night following the season premiere of Girls. Togetherness, a half-hour dramedy about the trivialities of relationships and being thirtysomething, couldn’t have landed a better time slot on television following the Lena Dunham Gen-Y staple. HBO wants you to know that it’s okay to not have it together — at any age, for that matter.

The series opens with Brett (Mark Duplass) checking out his wife Michelle’s (Melanie Lynskey) boobs while she’s sound asleep. When he tries to make the moves on her, she shoos him away. Still suffering from an extreme case of early morning wood, Brett takes matters into his own hands — literally — only to be met with “take it outside” and the handing of the baby monitor.

Cut to Brett’s best bud, Alex (Steve Zissis): a washed-up, wannabe actor, getting evicted and calling Brett in a panic. After packing up the UHaul, Brett, desperate for some guy time, begs Alex to stay for family day at the beach despite his rock-bottom situation. Then there’s Michelle’s sister, Tina (Amanda Peet), whom we meet while she’s putting on the last of her clothes from her sexcapade the night before with — oh hey, Ken Marino!

Even before Marino starts vacuuming any area Tina may have touched, it’s more than obvious she’s his number three at best. Spouting about moving on and away from Houston to stay out west, Tina’s excessive sharing of starting over to a guy who couldn’t care less about her sums up her character almost immediately: this gal is lost.

After Tina meets up with the rest of the lot, they have a day at the beach filled with diaper changes, sandy complaints, and too many bulky water toys. Michelle is upset that Brett didn’t keep his promise about taking their youngest into the ocean for the first time, and her look says it all: their marriage has hit a wall, and this is just one of many recent disappointments. Back at the house, Michelle sneaks upstairs for a nap, but is caught by Brett with a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey and some clothes pins on her nipples. Brett throws a fit, only to be interrupted by a screaming Tina, whose world comes crumbling down after receiving a breakup text from Ken Marino.

The four agree to get out of the house for the night, which turns into an evening of true escapism after Tina sees Ken with his new squeeze. Cheep wine and one TP’d house later, the four are genuinely enjoying each other’s drunken company. When Brett helps a tipsy, giggly Michelle get into bed, he humbly asks why she doesn’t want to have sex with him anymore, to which she replies, “I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Alex and Tina, who are staying with Brett and Michelle indefinitely, are figuring out their sleeping situation while shoving Oreos in each other’s mouths. Will they be BFFs or BFBs? Only time will tell.

Togetherness is, by far, the most sophisticated Duplass endeavor yet. If The Puffy Chair had more than a $1,000 budget and an HBO backing, it might have looked something like this. After ten years in film, the indie darlings have proven they can make the successful jump to television and keep their signature Duplass-ness. Togetherness doesn’t take itself as seriously as past Duplass projects: the dialogue flows freely, their direction is top-notch, and the soundtrack, though California dreamin’ fun, doesn’t feel preachy or suggest you feel-said-feeling-at-this-moment-right-now. Though Mark has been a FX staple as Pete Eckhart on fantasy football comedy, The League, and Jay as Josh Pfefferman in the Golden Globe-winning series Transparent, the brothers are something all their own in their television debut as a creative unit with a series that’s easily watchable with obvious longevity from the get-go. Marital problems will always be a hot topic, and Togetherness looks at middle-class suburbia in a light that has you laughing with them, because, hell, relationships are tough.

Though Togetherness hits all the right notes in terms of script and story, the performances are what takes this tiny series from good to great. Despite their characters’ marital problems, Duplass’ and Lynskey’s rehearsal is obvious and immediately reads: this is a couple that has a lot of history. Steve Zissis, longtime friend and creative colleague of the brotherly duo, is fantastic as Alex, a dude who knows his glory days are far behind him and is afraid to take the next step. Though it’s early to tell, the real star of the show is Amanda Peet. Her Tina is heartbreakingly broken, but hopeful and honest. She’s hit that age where settling down is an imminent black cloud and not having it together is frowned upon or worse, pitied. Part of Tina resents her little sister for seemingly having the perfect marriage and family, but another part of her is comfortable enough to live in the moment, something Michelle doesn’t quite remember how to do. Tina might be the character who ends up surprising us the most as this series gets rolling.

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Photos: HBO