Ever since Modern Family debuted in 2009, ABC slowly but surely has been
creating a lineup of some of the most funny family sitcoms than they have since
TGIF. And strangely enough, some of the best of them have been centered around
some of the better comic actresses
playing some of the most brilliant mother figures: Patricia Heaton's
trying to stay afloat Sue Heck on The
Middle, Constance Wu's constantly pushing tiger mom on Fresh off the Boat, and Wendi McLendon-McCovey's nudging 80s mom on
The Goldbergs.
To this team of
mothers-you-don't-want-to-F-with comes Minnie Driver's Maya Dimeo on the dark
but still funny Speechless. She's
played some unconventional mothers before on cult series like The Riches and About A Boy, but rarely has she mined such anger for her role in
this very unconventional comedy. Maya
is a mother with three children, but the one who is the focus of her life is
JJ, a budding teenager with cerebral palsy, who can neither speak nor walk, and
who is nearly as angry as his mother - but not for the same reason. Only able
to communicate by a 'helper' who reads a message board in front of him, JJ
wants to explore the world - which is something Maya does not want him to do. In her scorched earth policy, she has moved her
family around the country looking for a way to help JJ - usually at the expense
of Dylan and Ray, the other teenage children, who are having their own growing
pains, and just want to stop moving.
Now, they've arrived in a school
that seems perfect, Maya nevertheless
devastates the world around her. The spirit of inclusion that she wants for her
son doesn't satisfy her, so she starts arguments often just to fight - the poor
head of the school (Marin Hinkle, finally
back on TV in a role worthy of her) doesn't have a prayer of standing up to
her. But right now, her other children are trying to find their own way to
break free - Ray wants to find happiness with his first crush, and Dylan wants
to find a space for herself in this little box of a suburb.
In the wrong hands, this comedy
could be seen as offensive. But its one of the funnier series so far to debut
this season. And it seems a lot more grounded in the way it treats a person
with a physical disability than any other series with the exception of Breaking Bad. JJ is very particular about who he wants as
his 'voice', mocking one of as a Disney Princess, and bonding with the school
janitor, Kenneth, an African-American who bonds with him, considering he may be
the only black man in this community. Their scenes together where he treats JJ
like a man in a way that his mother has been struggling with is surprising
emotional without being mawkish. It's very revealing that part of the series is
dealing with how Maya is going to have to let go of her son as he tries to grow
up - which she isn't prepared to do.
The numbers for this series have
been more encouraging for any ABC comedy since black-ish, which makes a certain amount of sense considering that
it is, like that series in dealing with the more personal issues. And
considering how good Driver is, it might not be too early to put her in talk
for this years Emmys. It's still working the kinks out, but considering that
ABC just gave it a full season, there's reason for faith.
My score: 4 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment