About halfway through the series premiere of Breeders, Paul (Martin Freeman), currently suffering through a sleepless night dominated by two restless toddlers with endless energy, thinks back to a time when him and his wife Ally (Daisy Haggard) only had a newborn. The sunny haze of the flashback suggests a more idyllic, peaceful time, as Paul rocks his baby to sleep for a midday nap. But then, as soon as the baby touches the bassinet, it begins to wail, and in response he directs a few F-bombs at the baby and pleads with it to “compromise” about nap time.
That moment is indicative of much of the premiere; there’s a lot of shouting, even more cursing, and nary a moment of joy in sight. Thinking about some contemporary dramedys, Breeders has more in common with Catastrophe than Parenthood or even Better Things. “No Sleep” presents an absolute nightmare of an evening, where Paul and Ally take turns trying to get their children to sleep, only for the situation to get worse with each passing hour. There’s no saccharine Jason Katims-inspired moments here; nothing gets better.
It would seem that what “No Sleep” is aiming for is some level of authenticity, and there are times when it certainly manages to capture if not the reality of parenthood, at least the feeling of being a parent. In other words, sometimes a sleepless night, which happens every now and then, feels like the end of the world to a parent who’s also thinking about work and the bills and what the next day looks like on no sleep. Everything becomes exaggerated, and as a parent you’d do anything to just get your kids to behave perfectly. “I’d die for those kids, and yet I often want to kill them,” says Paul before him and Ally riff on how they’d efficiently murder their offspring.
If you’re a parent, “No Sleep” is often funny. It’s filled with relatable moments, the ones you try to explain to your childless friends, who only receive the story with polite nods and feigns at sympathy. One great gag involves Paul and Ally, currently listening to their children calling for them in the middle of the night, negotiating with each other over who gets to go try and calm them down. They talk about how early they have to get up and what their next day looks like, using every bit of information they can to gain some leverage, to insist that they’re the one who needs to sleep. Every couple has done this, and it’s one of the many moments that feels authentic.
The thing is, the authenticity argument only goes so far. There’s a lot of cynicism and darkness here, and unlike Catastrophe, there’s little heart to offset it. This is a nasty half hour, and the novelty of the rapid-fire cursing quickly wears off and becomes a one-note joke. If every episode contains the level of venom seen in “No Sleep,” Breeders is going to be a tough show to sit with every week. There has to be some sort of relief, something pushing against the idea that parenting is nothing but an act of never-ending drudgery and imagined murder.
There’s a chance that Breeders is going to use all the cynicism for a purpose. A few flashbacks show us that Paul and Ally once seemed perfectly content not having children…until something changed. Is their current behavior a consequence of submitting to social pressure and norms? Do they have real regrets, and not just the normal childless fantasies that come to every parent, about having not one but two children? There’s also Paul’s supposed alcoholism and his own admittance that he’s not a nice person, that ever since he became a parent he’s found a wellspring of rage inside him that he didn’t know existed.
Breeders, then, might end up tackling some issues in a way that necessitates the nastiness of “No Sleep.” It might end up recontextualizing all the cursing and shouting not as moments of dark humor, but rather actions undertaken by bad parents who are on a path of self destruction. But that’s for future episodes to handle. For now, “No Sleep” is an occasionally funny, but often cynical and angry episode that offers up an unpleasant, surface-level understanding of what it is to be a parent.
34 Comments
They should rename this show “Martin Freeman Yells The F Word At Children”Married > Breeders
ACCURATE
Martin Freeman was a really bad dad in this and not in a funny way.
Yeah, it’s one thing to slip up in a moment of severe irritation and shout at your child, but what was happening in this show was fucking abuse plain and simple.
Always watch the credits kids…My spouse turned this on. Was watching it in the background while doing some work.According to the on-air credits, this FX series was co-created by Louis C.K.Discuss
So yeah, my vote is for “bad parents who are on a path of self destruction.”
That explains all the scenes where Martin Freemen blocks the door and masturbates at Daisy Haggard.
CK’s name isn’t listed anywhere on this show’s IMDB, Wikipedia, or Sky.com pages.
not shown on the on air credits either, so…
I totally do not begrudge anyone for doubting some random commenter. I did not fully write how weird it looked. I saw the Louis CK name on the screen and did an IMDB search myself. Turned up empty. Rewound the show. Saw Louis CK’s name again. That is why I referred to the on-air credits, which may have some particular union-mandated rules.Sure, there is a non-zero chance that I hallucinated Louis CK’s name both times. But since it is FX, Louis CK could have been involved and for reasons, they kept his involvement on the Down-low. That was the most intriguing aspect…. again allowing for the possibility that I was not hallucinating.
I grabbed a copy of the episode and scoured the credits, hoping to validate your claim, but I’m afraid that I don’t see it. One of the technical credits pages does include someone named Lewis and another someone named Cooke, so maybe you saw that page and blinked. The only creators credited during the closing credits are co-creators Chris Addison, Simon Blackwell and Martin Freeman. (The opening credits are empty save “FX Presents / Breeders”.)I also have a feeling that if Louis CK were involved with this show, it would have been publicized by now, most particularly by this site.
“him and his wife”? Come on, now…
“…thinks back to a time when him…only had a newborn.”Most of the writers here are fucking morons. That’s why they’re here.
It is definitely important to abuse a writer you don’t know over a grammar mistake
aBuSe!!!The errors still stand. I guarantee the dude doesn’t read comments. He is doing just fine. But keep defending mediocrity, I guess. Gotta get those Internet Good Boy Points™ somehow.
Keep defending your right to be an asshole for no reason
I will, thanks!
I don’t doubt it
What a perfectly miserable-looking show.
I like Martin Freeman, and my wife was excited to check this out, so we gave it a try last night. I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with it. I’m all for awkward and occasionally “nasty” humor, like Veep or You’re The Worst, but this was just too much. It was mean-spirited basically from start to finish. I don’t know if its the fact I’ve got an 8-year-old son so seeing Martin Freeman yell at a 7-year-old boy all episode impacted my reaction, but man… it’s just too much for me.
i liked it. the son being so afraid of fires & burglars & then spiraling out from that was amusing. i also am sooooo happy that i don’t have kids & never wanted them.
The ads always make me think, “So Outnumbered but without the amazing kids or anything particularly original, just a joyless slog? Hmm, tempting.”
The only good Breeders is the band.But seriously, the commercials make this look, well, pretty much as the review describes it. There didn’t seem to be any sort of angle or hook that would give this show a reason to exist, aside from “couple has young children, can’t deal well with them, hijinx/drama ensues as necessary”, and that barely counts.
I saw a commercial for this while watching Doctor Who and because I was already in a bad mood about previous stupid commercials, I was like “okay nothing about looks entertaining or, you know, redeemable.” Glad to see my initial reaction was mostly right.
I got a good laugh out of it. It’s a bit over the top, but that’s what makes it a TV show. His little monologue walking up the stairs to get his kids to be quiet is pretty much every day for me. I can relate to being someone who was very easy-going until I had kids and then suddenly having anger issues. Lots of people want to be very judgmental about parents. Most of those people haven’t actually raised kids.
I’ve found st.johns wart and ginkgo have been tremendous in helping me regain my pre-children personality. (i also take mens one a day, and elderberry)
I thought it was a fine little PSA for contraception.It’s really a crying shame because I genuinely adore Daisy and Martin as actors but the best word I heard in describing – this episode at least – was ..joyless
I for one I was torn when I watched this; 1) I can laugh at some of the situations because someone else is going through and it isn’t me and 2) I’m done with this crap and don’t want to be reminded of it. Whatever happened to escapism TV?
I almost wonder if this is hate-watching for anti-parents. Like, as parents yeah we get it. Welcome to the human race: kids take literally all you have, and you’re forced to become more. It’s a luxury to sit back and say “nope”. So maybe this just lets them confirm their choice. I know I watch things that confirm my choices all the time.
Escapism TV is literally everything on network TV. Viewers want something else from cable networks like FX.
Yeah, in a world where child abuse is routinely dismissed and ignored, I don’t think we need more entertainment based around how difficult children make life for grownups.
Seemed to open quite a bit in the second episode. Adding the [grand]parents, and casting them brilliantly, refined the narratives. Martin’s character is still a snippy, cursey, malcontent, but they started filling in his motivations.
I’m finding it increasingly difficult to watch British comedies these days. What was once wry cynicism now verges on nihilist despair.
Ngl – I thought it was pretty hilarious ; the twist at the end where she thinks he’s murdered the children was pretty OP. Ep 2 was equally good. If they can keep a coherent arc it should be renewed- the child actors are great too.