A suburban mother faces her cancer diagnosis while trying to find humor and happiness as well.
A TV show about cancer? No, thank you. I can get depressed without the help of a touchy-feely movie tapping on my heartstrings. That’s what I thought I was in for when I tossed the first disc into my Blu Ray player. Instead, I hopped on a rollercoaster guided by a dysfunctional family battling cancer while losing at life and screwing everything up along the way to cancer winning a battle. These are my people. Not just dysfunctional, but real, except they don’t watch near as much Netflix as I do.
Season One
Cathy Jamison (Laura Linney) finds out she has stage 4 Melanoma Cancer. Stage 4, you know the scary one where even chemo won’t help and you have to pray for a miracle? That one. She doesn’t tell the people in her life immediately because her life is a mess and adding cancer to the mix will not help matters. She and her husband Paul (Oliver Platt) separated before the diagnosis despite his constant badgering of her to move back in if only to sleep on the couch.
Next, Cathy doesn’t believe her teenage son Adam (Gabriel Basso) could handle her diagnosis, instead, since he can barely pass math let alone cope with a dying mother. Cathy’s older brother Sean (John Hickey) lives on the streets by choice and chooses not to add to the trash problem in the country. He is too busy dumpster-diving to pay much attention to his sister’s problem although the two have a typical sibling relationship.
By the end of the first season, Cathy lives every moment differently than before the diagnosis. She makes mistakes, says things she wouldn’t have before and lives more spontaneously. She even takes a little duck under her wing, an obese teenager Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe) with an attitude, a bad mouth, and a penchant for junk food. She spends the rest of the year storing presents for her son Adam in a storage unit for all the birthdays and Christmases she will miss. She also deals with a next-door neighbor with a gun, an attitude, and a dog who can smell cancer.
Season Two
Those in Cathy’s life finally know about her big C and help her decide on treatment, though her options are limited because she’s stage 4, the final stage. Cathy tests a trial for her cancer with some success. A close friend passes away. She patches up her marriage and works on her relationship with her son. She forms a tighter bond with Andrea and new cancer friend Lee. Meanwhile, her past best friend returns and dates Cathy’s brother Sean. Her husband Paul loses his jobs and works at a tech store.
Season Three
Cathy copes not only with her cancer returning but also her husband Paul recovering from heart problems. Paul changes his career path and becomes a motivational blogger and speaker. Cathy keeps going with cancer treatment and tries to adopt a baby. She also creates an alter personality separate from her family to get everything she can out of life.
Season Four
The final season is a waiting game for the Big C to take Cathy from the earth. Her health deteriorates and her family finally understands, as does Cathy, that she will not recover and the cancer will kill her. She eases their burden by putting herself in hospice care. She lives past her insurance claim and moves back home before ending the series.
Cathy is infuriating. Every decision she makes, you want to smack her or make her give in to the cancer before she makes another bad decision. Paul doesn’t do a lot better navigating life. Adam struggles like a normal teenager. His choices line up with the trauma in his life and his age. He is by far the most normal and easy likable characters. Andrea is a breath of fresh air with her attitude and fun personality. Sean is a nutcase with a lot of heart and even more issues.
Overall, the show feels like a real family with real problems with a touch of humor. Everyone in the show is completely neurotic and shouldn’t be allowed to make their own decisions! Watching their failures may help you feel better about your own life as this family goes through the five stages of grief with very little dignity or grace. Totally fun, absorbing and well worth the watch right up to the last minute.
Now available on Blu-ray & DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment
