How To Live A Better Life - Season 3, Episode 1: "A (Not So) Better Life"

Watch The Episode Here

First thing's first, I came up with that episode title, so this season is already off to a great start.

It's here, finally. Well it's been here for over a week but thanks to college I haven't had a real good chance to write the review until now. None of that matters. We need to discuss how this show has handled the aftermath of a finale that split its world in two. Jordan has run off with the Derkiss to New York so he can pursue his acting ambitions by making movies James Derkiss will produce. The Derkiss is kind of a production everyman, in that he is first and foremost a producer, but can also act as an agent, director, or writer. He's pretty much guaranteed to be able to add something to any project he works on. Whether or not he's actually good at any of that is another story.

Like many season premieres, How To Live A Better Life kicks off a considerable amount of time after its previous finale, but not before the show picks up immediately where it left off to show us who was on the other side of Mike's phone call. It was Ryan, naturally. I mean, at the time of the finale we didn't know who Mike was calling (I did), so that leaves much room for speculation, but when the show reveals that secret you can't help but think, "Oh, duh.". I mean, there isn't a huge collection of characters for the show to draw from in this kind of moment, much less ones that Mike continually interact with who aren't named Jordan Ross, so when you really think about it the only reasonable answer would be Ryan Sylvan. Sure, you could argue that this would be to set up a new character, but like I said, Mike doesn't know anybody. He has direct ties to Jordan and Ryan, and that's it. In accordance to what we've seen on the show, there is nobody (at least in America) he could comfortably call and make plans with. That may change, but I'm just telling it like it is.

So the season starts right off with that and a joke. Very good. Then we hit the time jump, which is a whole three months. Not enough time to make a feature film, but surely something has to be in the works or various stages of production. Not a chance. This is James Derkiss we're talking about. I'm pretty sure he's blacklisted from the major production companies and media outlets. He's just poison. He has terrible ideas and even worse ways for implementing them, as shown in the episode. The guy goes to jail and then subsequently breaks out, for pete's sake. He's a cockroach. Put him in any sort of situation and he'll find a way to make it worse or weasel out of it. So good on Jordan for deciding to get the hell out of dodge when he did. The Derk was going to drag his career into an early grave so his could have some company.

Speaking of production, specifically production value, this premiere did not disappoint. We went into the big city to film the exteriors for "New York", which is so recognizably Indianapolis, Indiana that it's not even funny. But it's not like we could just go to the real New York to get a few fleeting shots (and a couple of sequences involving thematically-appropriate tree signs), so the suspension of disbelief holds up there. How To Live A Better Life is filmed on an average budget of about -$15. "Really?" you ask after you see the sequence of Jordan running home set to licensed music, and I say really. That entire part is just gold thanks to the green screen. Especially him running in the scene from The Dark Knight Rises where the football stadium collapses. It's perfect. The entire time this has been going on, Mike has been trying to turn Ryan into a semi-Jordan because he is crazy and has abandonment issues, which leads to a slightly awkward moment when he finally arrives home to see this taking place, but it's actually a moment of rejoice. Jordan coming home pretty much signifies that How To Live A Better Life has returned, in more ways than one. Expect a nice balance of the same old antics mixed with heightened storytelling. This current story arc isn't over yet.

What? Serialized storytelling in How To Live A Better Life? Yeah, I know.

Stray Observations:

• Some residual callback-itis is present in this episode, with the gratuitous zoom on Ryan's mouth (check), Mountain Dew, Mike taking Haperal, and more.
• "Life is meaningless and we're all going to die anyway." Classic Ryan.
• Not sure why The Derkiss had to give Jordan a tour of the house they had been living in for three months...wait I know: Exposition.
• "If you want a TV, you can just...buy a TV!"
• Those Rembrandt "Pastries" tasted godawful and were very, very old. My saliva was very blue for a long time.
• The exterior shots of "New York" coupled with the music gave off a big reality show vibe, which doesn't exactly go away (more on that next episode).
• Overall Episode Grade: B+