“Better Things” co-creator and star Pamela Adlon toasted the fifth and final season of her Emmy-nominated FX series at a screening and party at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Wednesday night.
The cast and crew recalled learning the show was coming to an end. “I think I called everyone and said, ‘This is it fellas,’” Adlon cracked “I never felt like it was like we’re mourning. I feel like we’re celebrating. I feel like we’ve been given this gift and it’s a launching pad into the next phases of our lives.”
Mikey Madison, who plays Max, remembers finding out Seasons 5 would be the last edition about five or six months before filming began. “I had a feeling that it was going to be the last because we’ve just been telling the story for so long,” she said. “It’s so rare to have this many seasons on a show like this.”
Hannah Riley, who plays Frankie, called the ending “bittersweet.” “When you work with the same people for five seasons, you get very close,” she said. “I’ve worked on other sets but nothing compares to this set experience. We talked about it all the time how relaxed and nice it is. I’m gonna miss that. It’s an incredibly high bar.”
Olivia Edward, who plays Duke, says she didn’t start accepting they were filming the final episodes until after production wrapped. “I never really processed it until a week after we finished filming,” she said. “Even the last day, I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll see you later.’ I mean, I grew up on the show. It always felt like it was going to be there.”
Pointing to Adlon, Edward said, “I owe everything to that lady right there. She has taught me everything. Watching her write, direct, star and do all of it. Being in a scene with her and being able to soak up all of that energy of watching her work and watching what she does, I feel very grateful to be able to have grown up around that.”
Adlon was tightlipped about what was next for her, but teased, “I want to make more television, but I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to be too big for my britches. I don’t want to jinx anything.”
