In Season 1 of HBO’s Peabody Award-winning dramedy “Somebody Somewhere,” Sam Miller (Bridget Everett) worked through her grief and anger in the months following her older sister Holly’s death. In Season 2, she struggled to find her place in her hometown again while managing her first big blowup with her best friend Joel (Jeff Hiller) and grappling with a secret Holly had kept from her. Now, in the third season of this outstanding series, Sam finally settles into her tiny community and tries to navigate change without retreating into old habits of isolation and self-loathing. Just as magical as ever, the final season of “Somebody Somewhere” is a stunningly honest depiction of friendship, grace and courage.
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Set in Manhattan, Kansas, “Somebody Somewhere” captures the quiet, charm and monotony of small-town living. Instead of being patronizing, creators Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen offer a hilarious and beautifully compassionate window into this particular place, and the people who call it home. Potlucks, Bible study and gossip are significant parts of the show, but the love and connection among the residents are the series’ crowning jewels.
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As Season 3 opens, Sam is at her new job. In addition to helping her sister Tricia (a fantastic Mary Catherine Garrison) with her event planning and Etsy businesses, Sam works in the local dive bar, the Cock n’ Bull. Though she would never claim to be a people person, Sam thrives as a bartender, chatting up regulars, keeping glasses full, and earning laughs with her crass humor. Still, her new job isn’t the only change she’s handling. With her mother in an assisted-living facility and her father (the late Mike Hagerty) retired in Michigan, Sam and Tricia have rented out the family farm to the stoic and towering Iceland (Darri Ólafsson), who seems content to live among the relics of the Miller family’s past. Sam appears to be taking these developments in stride, but when Joel announces he’s selling his house and ending their rental partnership to move in with his boyfriend, Brad (Tim Bagley), Sam realizes her friendship and financial situation will be forever altered.
With Joel and Sam’s friend Fred (Murray Hill) officially coupled, Sam and Tricia, a newly divorced empty nester, find themselves in similar life stages. Sam and Joel’s relationship is the heart of the show, but watching the sisterhood between Sam and Tricia expand and solidify is deeply fascinating. Episode 4, “What If It Spreads?,” follows the two to the Great Plains Expo in Wichita. After a day of networking and shopping the booths, Tricia’s rageful revelation about her sex life both haunts and amuses Sam, and it proves to be a turning point for the pair. Sam tends to view her sister with some disdain, but she also admires Tricia’s sheer courage in leaving an unhappy marriage and carving out her professional lane with her events and “cunty” pillow business. (Tricia makes a killing designing artisanal throw pillows with vulgar statements embroidered on them.)
While the sisters have their pinot grigio-filled pillow-packing bubble, Joel and Sam’s friendship has never been better. Everett and Hiller are captivating separately; together they are magnetic. For two seasons, audiences watched Sam lean into Joel. The duo’s bond was a balm that covered holes in other areas of Sam’s life. This season, however, she finally allows herself to see how important she is to Joel. In Episode 5, “Num Nums,” Sam, a drunken Tricia and their friends gather for Thanksgiving at Joel and Brad’s house. When Brad reveals details of his past, Sam discovers that real love doesn’t come with a rule book. She begins to recognize that to achieve it, she must be willing to take terrifying risks — namely, to expose a vulnerability she has long tucked deep within.
Throughout the series, Sam contends with precarious finances, health hiccups, Fred’s meddling wife, Susie (Jennifer Mudge), and a surprising new love interest. At times she resorts to her coping mechanisms, shutting down and turning to negative self-talk. Yet, with Joel and Tricia as her anchors, she surprises herself with her willingness to try new things.
Sam has gotten better at handling the unexpected, but Joel’s shocking crisis of faith throws viewers and Sam for a loop. When Joel witnesses several aspects of his dream board come to fruition while grieving the loss of others — and facing a complicated figure from his childhood — it’s proof to Sam that even the most optimistic among us can stumble and falter. Stepping into the “strong friend” role shows her that being right where she is, is perfectly fine.
Of course, this wouldn’t be “Somebody Somewhere” without Everett’s signature singing. The actress is a trained cabaret singer, but Sam’s fear of public performance has been a throughline in the show. This season also offers emotional outbursts, raunchy sex jokes — and a few tears. These elements make the series feel like a homecoming and distinguish it from nearly everything else on TV today. Through beautiful surprises and devastating setbacks, Sam learns it’s OK to keep going and ask for what she wants, even if she’s not sure she deserves it. After all, life isn’t always about major transformations. Sometimes, it’s simply yearning for more and taking small steps to move forward.
“Somebody Somewhere” Season 3 premieres Oct. 27 on HBO, with new episodes dropping weekly on Sundays.
