Stream It or Skip It: ‘Workin’ Moms: Season 3′ on Netflix, a Joke-Dense Sitcom That Still Gets the Emotional Complexities of Motherhood Mostly Right

Non-Canadians can catch up with Workin’ Moms: Season 3 now that it’s finally breached on Netflix. The series, created by and starring Catherine Reitman, runs first on CBC Television, and is distributed internationally on the streaming service, which means if you’re not passing around Loonies and Twonies, you’ve been dangling on the second-season cliffhanger: not only did Reitman’s character, Kate Foster, catch her husband mashing face with their nanny, but she’s also pregnant with their second child. So the third-season premiere deals with a basic question: Now what?

WORKIN’ MOMS: SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: In closeup, the instructor of Kate’s birthing class cheerfully recites a mantra: “Four-one-one. Baby’s gonna come.”

The Gist: Kate and her BFF Anne (Dani Kind) are in birthing class. Kate steps on the instructor’s lessons by laying down hard truths about pregnancy: Going to the hospital with four minutes between contractions is a waste of time. Your first poop after the baby is born is gonna be a doozy. And statistically speaking, one of the husbands in the room is gonna cheat.

And she knows what she’s talking about. In the wake of Nathan’s (Philip Sternberg) infidelity, she moves into her own apartment. He turns up at the apartment with their toddler son and a gift, and Anne gently shuts the door in his face. Kate’s also about two deep breaths away from giving birth. Her brand-new public relations firm is a little slow on business; she needs help, and hires ding-dong 20-something Forrest Greenwood (Donald MacLean Jr.), son of her former boss Richard Greenwood (Peter Keleghan).

Kate’s water breaks. She struggles in the delivery room, so she has Anne summon Nathan. She flashes back to sour times — the positive pregnancy test, how she confronted him. He arrives. She kisses him. She looks in his eyes. She primal-screams her new daughter right into the world. She kicks Nathan out. Two months later, she’s back at work, pitching a PR strategy at an old white man who wants to see more old white men in the campaign. UGH. But she needs the work. It’s her birthday, and she resists all offers to do anything fun. Nathan surprises her; he hasn’t seen baby Ella since she was born. Her mother (Mimi Kuzyk) gives her sexy lingerie as a gift. Home alone, Kate puts it on, eats some ice cream, peruses a dating site — then calls Forrest, who skateboards over so she can jump the crap out of his bones.

Our Take: Workin’ Moms is fast-paced, joke- and character-dense and remarkably easy to watch. Standing at her character’s personal crossroads, Reitman hits the sweet spot between cynicism and sincerity, and therefore comedy and drama. People like you and me and Kate are complicated balls of emotion and logic and all the greyish gunk in-between, and sometimes we make rash decisions, but they’re not necessarily the wrong decisions. Not that choosing Forrest as one to commingle with is necessarily the right decision — but it’s understandable. And when we empathize with a character, that’s when we’re hooked. If you’ve been with Workin’ Moms since the beginning, the first episode of season three isn’t likely to push you away.

Sex and Skin: A negligee’d Kate cougars Forrest Almost Gump, but the room is mostly dark.

Parting Shot: Kate straddles Forrest on her couch as they maul each other.

Sleeper Star: During Forrest’s job interview, MacLean gives an earnest, brainless speech: “Out of all the Fast and the Furious movies, I think Fate of the Furious just captures, like, the family. And that’s what I want to be a part of. A family.” He’s the perfect candidate — for mindless sex!

Most Pilot-y Line: “I’m about 6,000 kegels away from any kind of D,” Kate says of her post-pregnancy sex life.

Our Call: STREAM IT. This Kate-centric episode barely touches on the other workin’ moms, but there’s another dozen episodes to come, so be patient. It’s a funny show that gets the emotions and complexities of modern motherhood mostly right.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Workin' Moms on Netflix