There are some experiences in life that color everything that follows: a heartbreak, a humiliation, a success, a surprise. Amy Schumer’s new show, “Life & Beth,” portrays its titular character (Schumer) as she encounters one of these formative moments, and is inspired to reflect upon another that occurred during adolescence. It’s a show about the herculean challenge of understanding, and changing, oneself.
Delivering a more grounded, melancholy performance than the ones she gave in “Inside Amy Schumer” or even “Trainwreck,” Schumer’s Beth is living a good, if unexciting, life as the series begins. She’s a top salesperson at a wine distribution company, she has a long-term boyfriend, and she can afford to live in a pretty nice apartment in Manhattan. But she’s on autopilot. Then something happens and she realizes she can’t go on like she has been. It’s not long before she’s hanging out with old friends back home on Long Island and pursuing a romance with John (Michael Cera), a farmer at the local vineyard she’s doing business with.
As Beth blows up her old life in order to embark on a new one, she can’t resist looking back on a painful period of her teen years. In flashbacks, we hang out with Beth circa age 14 (Violet Young), who is smack-dab-in-the-middle of puberty, starting to experiment with her sexuality, contending with her parents’ split, and is intensely devoted to her best friend, Liz (Grace Power).
With these flashbacks as well as cryptic references in the present day, “Life & Beth” parses out what exactly happened to the teenage Beth over its 10-episode first season. Like formative experiences themselves, the show’s big reveal is both integral and kind of beside the point. Beth is not the same person she was when she was 14, but almost-40 Beth wouldn’t exist without the teen who came before. Her trauma hasn’t defined her, but she hasn’t been able to fully move beyond it, either.
If I’m making “Life & Beth” seem like a downer, believe me, it’s not. It’s a more muted comedy than what Schumer became famous for, but it still has plenty of sharp commentary about women’s relationships to their bodies, sex, health, and grief. One of my favorite scenes sees the adult Beth losing her shit on a dumbass dude while trying to procure the morning after pill. It’s like an “Inside Amy Schumer” sketch that swapped the zaniness for unapologetic, cathartic rage. And that’s something I’m always here for.
Ultimately, this show is the latest example — following “Amy Schumer: Growing,” “Expecting Amy,” and “The Humans” — of Schumer’s work evolving along with her. Beth is a little more fed-up, a little more disillusioned, than Schumer’s previous on-screen alter egos. Having survived her 20s and most of her 30s, she’s wondering if, and how, she can possibly be fulfilled. Whether Schumer keeps exploring these themes in a second season of “Life & Beth” or another project, I’ll definitely be tuning in.
“Life & Beth” is now available on Hulu. Schumer is the creator and executive producer, and wrote and directed several episodes.
