The series matures and comes into its own: Slings & Arrows Season 3

Season 3 of "Slings & Arrows," the final season, appropriately concerns staging of King Lear, and is off to a great start. The director Jeffrey Tenant settling more into his role and becoming less of the cartoon figure he was in Season 1 and more of a talented director troubled by psychological demons, clearly some kind of depression - and as with many such diagnoses, his depression doesn't make sense to others as he's achieved great success and is in a solid relationship with Ellen, so this strand will develop. Also Richard, the producer, is more confident on some level, thanks to success of the festival, but also really uncomfortable with himself, with his subservience to the bullying board, with the pressure of the job. Like Jeffrey, he breaks down in tears. Meanwhile the play: the issue is whom to cast as Lear and Jeffrey opts for an unknown semiretired aging actor, whom we learn in last sequence is a drug addict, passing over a well-known actor, who punches Jeffrey in the nose in anger, kind of a reprise of the Macbeth casting from previous season but so what. To me most interesting parts of the series involve the actual direction and rehearsals and opening night, so I'm eager to see them start working with the play. The secondary production, again by that crazy pretentious academic director (can't recall name, Dennis?) will be a musical, so that should offer some great counterpoint. (Jeffrey asks Richard to be the artistic director on that one - for further weirdness.) Very promising start for this series, which gradually has matured and come into its own.