Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Catastrophe

Credits

Cast

Network

Reviewer

Paul Asay

TV Series Review

Fairy-tale romcoms quit just when things get interesting.

“Happily ever after?” Really? More like, “Happily every other day or so, assuming the laundry’s done and the kids aren’t throwing up.” Or, “Happily mostly, except when my spouse is being a jerk.” Or even, “Come over here and tell me who threw these crayons in the microwave, and then I’ll tell you what I think about your ‘happily ever after.'”

I doubt even Prince Charming was charming all the time.

Amazon’s Catastrophe tries to chronicle what a marriage relationship really looks like—or, at least, what it looks like if the couple in question constantly discusses sex, infidelity, masturbation and flatulence. Oh, and uses the f-word once or twice in most sentences.

So … does that mean that this anti-romantic comedy is looking for a “problematically ever after” ending?

Do You Take This Program, in Rudeness and in Filth …

Admittedly, Sharon and Rob’s relationship didn’t begin under ideal circumstances. They didn’t even live on the same continent before they hooked up for a weekend of nonstop sex. Rob’s already back in Boston when Irish schoolteacher Sharon calls him from London to tell him she’s pregnant.

The trajectory of their lives changes dramatically, naturally. Rob moves to London. They get hitched, promising to love each other for better or worse—all of which all sounds nicely, surprisingly and refreshingly old fashioned.

And it is. Up to a point.

But the devil is in the details, as they say. And if that’s true, there’s plenty of pointy tails and pitchforks to be found here.

Honesty on Television: Not Always the Best Policy

Three years later, Rob and Sharon are still married. They have another kid. Both parents are devoted to their children and still love each other—or, at least, mostly. And that’s gratifying to see.

But if every relationship has its share of bumps, this one looks like a Jeep trail up K2. And the couple has a penchant for going off-road themselves.

Take Sharon’s near-infidelity that bridges Seasons 2 and 3, for instance. Sharon gets drunk in a bar and, when she sobers up, worries that she slept with someone else. So she buys and takes a morning-after pill, the receipt to which Rob finds and …

Well, you get the idea.

As real as Rob and Sharon’s relationship feels at times—the issues at hand are depicted with raw honesty—it doesn’t mitigate the many problems we see here. There’s a reason why couples tend to deal with these sorts of issues behind closed doors, either in their own bedroom or in a counselor’s office. And frankly, even when their relationship is clicking, they should probably shut the door and close the blinds—not welcome millions of viewers into their boudoir.

We see sex, sometimes lots of it. Rob and Sharon talk frankly and graphically about everything surrounding that intimate act, from issues such masturbation and pornography to, of course, sex itself. They drink, sometimes to massive excess. Sharon smokes. And both swear about as much as characters from a Tarantino movie.

And keep in mind that Rob and Sharon are relatively responsible, at least compared to some of their other friends.

I appreciate, on some level, what Catastrophe is trying to do. A relationship, it says, doesn’t need to be “happily ever after” to be fulfilling and rewarding and, sometimes, even happy. But in trying to provide an antidote to the false promises of the romcom, the cure proves to be worse than the disease.

Catastrophe? Yeah, that’s just about right.

Episode Reviews

Catastrophe: Apr. 22, 2017 “Episode 1”

In the first episode of the third season (which Amazon released in its entirety April 22), Rob finds a receipt for the morning-after pill (a pill, we learn, that Sharon has taken plenty of times before) and confronts her about it. Sharon initially lies, telling Rob that it was due to their last sexual encounter (which took place in a public setting). In reality, she worries that she had sex with another man, but she was too drunk at the time to remember exactly what happened.

Sharon seeks out the man to ask him about their encounter: He tells her that they kissed and that she touched him intimately, but went no farther. Sharon eventually confesses all to Rob, who decides to stay with her.

“The bottom line is, [our kids] need a mom, and I hate the idea of whatever you did with him less than I love them,” he says. “What are the other options? I leave you? I split up our family? I’m going to have to suck it up, aren’t I?”

We hear a number of references to the other man’s penis and the act in which it was revealed. We also are subjected to Sharon’s dream/fantasy in which she does have sex with the other man (we see his rear and a great deal of sexual movements). The dream then involves another similarly racy sex scene between the man and someone else. There’s a visual allusion to masturbation, as well as a conversation about the size of certain men’s genitalia.

There’s also further discussion of urination, flatulence, infidelity, masturbation (again), sex aids, smelling underwear, body hair and a sexual harassment charge that Rob was unfairly saddled with last season. Rob slurps down an alcoholic drink during a business meeting. Others drink margaritas and shots. There’s a reference to “poppers and weed.” Rob and Sharon’s son falls out of bed and suffers a bloody cut on the head.

The Plugged In Show logo
Elevate family time with our parent-friendly entertainment reviews! The Plugged In Podcast has in-depth conversations on the latest movies, video games, social media and more.
paul-asay
Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Latest Reviews

Animal Control season 2
Comedy

Animal Control

Animal Control is yet another recycled comedy about public servants who can’t seem to do anything right.

Elsbeth season 1
Comedy

Elsbeth

The NYPD hires a quirky, former defense attorney in “Elsbeth.” And while it’s a likable show, the content is sometimes out of order.

The Regime season 1
Drama

The Regime

Kate Winslet rules this fictional European country through guile, paranoia and delusion. The show itself is on shaky ground, as well.