Steve Zissis

For a group of adults with careers and children of their own, the core four of Togetherness are honest with themselves and each other approximately seven percent of the time which is to say barely at all. Their relationship problems, work issues, self esteem difficulties, or otherwise are for the most part worked out within their own tired and overworked minds. If they ever look to each for advice it is taken with a hundred grains of salt and a healthy dose of rationalization, and even they no one ever follows through with much success. Thus far, these strategies haven’t gotten the group very far so when “Ghost in Chains” blows their self-built barricades to smithereens it is a welcome and momentum-building moment. From the opening scene where Brett comes across Mary Steenburgen’s possibly unhinged Linda lying in the forest, a blanket of honesty juice befalls everyone on screen.

If Togetherness was only about Amanda Peet’s Tina being dishonest with herself about how her behavior around men and friends affects the rest of her life, it could be a great show. Peet is performing far out of her normal lane with this zany, insecure women who either cannot or refuses to acknowledge social cues from men she dates. Long the straight woman in her television and film roles (except for Bent- RIP Bent!), Peet is impossible to look away from here, constantly the most entertaining yet cringe-worthy of the four main characters introduced in the pilot. Her misguided attempts to force a relationship out of what is so obviously a brief hookup with a perfectly cast Ken Marino is only the tip of the iceberg for Tina, as she sets all her hopes on one guy only to see them dashed when he “breaks up with her” via text message.