Amazon, Netflix and Hulu only began making and marketing TV shows a few years ago, but in this short period they have unleashed an abundance of short-season romantic comedy shows available to binge-watch online. On Netflix there are “Master of None” and “Love,” on Hulu there’s “Casual” and on Amazon there’s “Catastrophe.” These shows utilize the freedom of internet television to construct less traditional, more centered narratives than would be found on broadcast television. “Catastrophe” is probably the fastest paced of them all.
The first season gave the audience an empathetic look at a charming marriage of necessity. Last year, the narrative seemed simple and unobtrusive — after discovering a very unplanned pregnancy, Sharon (Sharon Horgan) and Rob (Rob Delaney) unite to overcome obstacles ranging from the Irish-American cultural divide, to cancer, to zany, offbeat friends. In the first season, the show confronts serious issues in a lighthearted way — when facing such heavy obstacles, Rob addresses the situation with a line of humorously dark repartee and Sharon always reciprocates with her charming Irish laugh.
In season two, Rob’s vulgar dialogue still often feels well-suited to a stand-up comedy show, but any affection it conveys is muted by a veneer of sarcasm and is just as often met with Sharon’s ire as by her laugh. Whatever honeymoon-ish tone the first season established has left by the second season. The marriage has moved from shy flirtation to stressed intimacy.
With two children, Rob and Sharon are both overwhelmed — Sharon by postpartum depression and the loneliness of stay-at-home motherhood, Rob by balancing his degrading job with fatherly and husbandly obligations. The supporting characters in the second season add to the stress. In the second season, though Carrie Fisher remains inordinately funny as Rob’s neurotic mother, other side characters develop from comic relief into serious subplots. Rob’s friend, Dave, evolves from clichéd, asinine American businessman into a troubled alcoholic. Similarly, the wacky marriage of friends Fran and Chris faces a candid reassessment.
The marital anger which these issues and characters provoke is honestly depicted in season two. In the first season, Sharon and Rob’s relationship seemed fragile because the couple did not know one another well, but in the second season it is just as fragile for the opposite reason. The plot develops naturally, efficiently and all too quickly for the protagonists. The tragedy lies in the characters being victimized not as much by their choices as by their circumstances.
That being said, the show is still very funny, just less in the kitschy, domestic way which TV comedies have driven their audience to expect. Unlike in “I Love Lucy,” the marital troubles in “Catastophe” don’t dissolve into the couple’s warm embrace surrounded by an animated heart. “Catastrophe” portrays the intimacy of parenthood as a constant struggle occasionally interrupted by spontaneous happenings of joy, as opposed to a joyride punctuated by trifling misunderstandings.
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