It’s the beginning of the end for FX’s remarkable Better Things
Also tonight: HBO’s My Brilliant Friend returns, Netflix’s comedy special Earthquake: Legendary, and a new Gilded Age episode
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Monday, February 28. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Better Things (FX, 10 p.m., season-five premiere): Pamela Adlon’s gem of a comedy kicks off its fifth and final season with two new episodes. Adlon once again directs all 10 installments. She plays Sam Fox, a working actor and single mom to her three daughters, Max (Mikey Madison), Frankie (Hannah Alligood), and Duke (Olivia Edward). Celia Imrie plays Sam’s mother, Phyllis. As the Fox women head into the next phase of life, they are inspired to re-evaluate themselves by learning from the past.
Season five’s guest star lineup includes Ron Cephas Jones, Danny Trejo, Lena Waithe, Clive Russell, Casey Wilson, and Angela Kinsey. Keep an eye out for Danette Chavez’s review on the site later today.
Regular coverage
The Gilded Age (HBO, 9 p.m.)
Wild cards
My Brilliant Friend (HBO, 10 p.m., season-three premiere): The Italian coming-of-age drama is based on Elena Ferrante’s novels of the same name. Season three is based on the third book, Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay. In his review, Noel Murray writes:
This latest eight-episode batch is fascinating because, per Ferrante’s vision, it’s set at a time when the progressive movements sweeping across the world—advocating for the rights of women, ethnic minorities, and the working class—were crashing into a staunchly paternalistic Italy, still largely controlled by old men, priests, and gangsters. Elena experiences this when she sits around with groups of educated radicals and sees the way the men dominate every conversation with their theories about a class struggle she has actually lived through. Lila experiences it when she asks her doctor to prescribe her birth control pills and he declines, saying, “There’s no better medicine for a woman than pregnancy.”
Chappelle’s Home Team: Earthquake: Legendary (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.): Presented by comedian Dave Chappelle, Home Team is a series of standalone specials on Netflix featuring comics he handpicked to shine a light on. The first one is headlined by Nathaniel Martin Stroman, a.k.a. Earthquake, who currently stars in CBS’ The Neighborhood and HBO’s South Side. In Earthquake: Legendary, he makes waves with topics ranging from health and prostate exams to disciplining kids. Stan Lathan directs the special.