A Thanksgiving episode of 'A Man on the Inside' meditates on mothers and loss

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Mike Schur bemoans the loss of holiday episodes on television.“The new world of TV shows not following a September to late May schedule means that we don’t get Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, sometimes St.Patrick’s Day,” the creator says.

“I really miss that.It’s such a staple of my youth and also most of the shows I worked on pre-2015 or whatever.”So for the second season of his Netflix comedy “A Man on the Inside,” now streaming, Schur, best known for “Parks and Recreation” and “The Good Place,” orchestrated a madcap Thanksgiving episode that eventually becomes a moving meditation on how women connect to their mothers.In the half-hour fifth episode, titled “Thanksgiving Break,” the show’s budding, elderly private investigator Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson) hosts the traditional dinner at his home with his new girlfriend Mona (Mary Steenburgen, Danson’s real-life wife).

Charles’ adult daughter, Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) has spent hours fretting over whether she should bake a pecan pie her late mother used to make, worried that if she does so, it will make her father even sadder about the loss, especially at a time when he’s building a new relationship.Meanwhile, Mona invites Charles’ boss, Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), who is celebrating with her mother, Vanessa (Constance Marie), a former con artist who went to jail when Julie was a young girl, leading to their strained relationship.

Television Schur and Danson have reunited for a tender, humorous meditation on loneliness and the search for late-in-life purpose with Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside.”The plot breaks from the season’s arc that involves Charles investigating a mystery at a local college, and instead allows Schur and his team to dig deeper into the character revelations that arise from the festivities.“Thanksgiving is, traditionally, I ...