Has Dare Me finally hit its stride?

It’s taken some time for this show to find it’s identity, but Dare Me Season 1 Episode 4 did a better job than the previous installments of providing a worthwhile episode from start to finish.

Perhaps it’s because we finally got to know the central characters a little bit better.

I’ve been screaming for more Beth exposition if only to give us a sense of who she is beyond an entitled, defiant, and troubled cheerleader.

The therapy session with Bert and Tacy wasn’t long or eye-opening, but it did show the dynamic between the three in a way we hadn’t seen yet.

Beth’s resentment and anger towards both Tacy and her father have been years and years in the making. And one therapy session isn’t even going to scratch the surface of the pain Beth has in regards to the fracturing of her family.

Beth: Can you imagine if someone actually wanted to take advantage of her? I mean, if she succumbs so easily to perceived peer pressure from her own sister. Am I the only one that sees the problem here?
Bert: She does kind of have a point.

• Permalink: She does kind of have a point.

For his part, Bert didn’t seem as pro-Tacy as you would assume. He was listening to both sides and was more understanding of the things Beth was saying.

Both Tacy and Beth were trying to manipulate the situation to their advantage, which is no doubt something they’ve learned over the years being in the Cassidy household.

It’s unclear what Tacy’s mother is like (hopefully she makes an appearance this season), but Lana is a trip and a half.

Lana saw her whole life upended and then saw her husband move across the street and start his life anew. She’s basically been watching her old life on a continuous loop for years now.

And she’s content to keep up the charade because she’s terrified of losing. She won’t lose to Bert, and she won’t fully accept that her life is falling apart.

Instead of trying to empathize with a teenager who’s also had her life replaced, she begs her to play nice and put on a happy face so they can continue to live in their fancy house and get Bert to pay for everything.

Beth doesn’t seem to have any relationship with Bert that doesn’t involve money, and while she tries to have a semblance of normalcy in her own home, her mom makes that nearly impossible.

And this is part of the reason her relationship with Addy is so essential.

It’s been mentioned multiple times since the series premiered, and again tonight when Riri brought it up to Addy. The two women are known as a duo, and you don’t get one without the other.

Beth feels Addy slipping further and further away, and makes passive-aggressive digs at Colette as a way to show her displeasure, but the two girls still haven’t had the knockout, drag-out fight they need to have.

Even though their friendship is hanging by a thread, they’re still friends. And Addy wasn’t about to leave Beth behind at a shady motel where she could get scooped up by the cops.

There was probably a bit of selfishness on Addy’s part as well, since there’s no doubt that it would get back to her mom that Addy wasn‘t where she said she was going to be.

Her decision to bring a barely coherent Beth to Colette’s house was a bit of a head-scratcher, and it leads to her getting on Colette’s bad side for the first time since they met.

Addy was scared and wanted to bring Beth somewhere she considered to be a safe environment with an adult, but she had no idea she was walking into a house in flux.

Colette’s relationship with Will finally got out of the honeymoon stage and entered into real territory. And frankly, it was about time Will voiced out loud that, of the two, he was the one getting the short end of the stick.

Will is by far the nicest person on the show, and he cares about Colette a whole lot. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that without Colette, he doesn’t have much.

He’s a recruiter who seems good at what he does, but he doesn’t seem to have friends or any other kind of existence outside of Colette.

And where are things actually going with these two?

Colette is still married and hasn’t once mentioned not being married, though she and Matt are on very shaky ground at the moment.

One squad party was okay for Matt, but he’s become increasingly frustrated with the MTV spring break parties he’s coming home to. Not to mention the fact that Colette was late picking up their daughter from daycare because she was shacking up with a certain Marine in one of the school locker room-bathroom combos.

Now, of course, he doesn’t realize that’s where Colette was (at least not that we can tell). But after their fight, you have to imagine Matt has a much clearer idea of why his wife is seemingly acting out.

Colette: God, it must be so nice to be a guy. To be applauded for just showing up and trying. Babysitting your own kid every once and awhile. Unloading the dishwasher once a week because I'm doing it the wrong way. You think I'm avoiding responsibilities, I'm not. I am just juggling everyone else's trying to be perfect every single second.
Matt: Nobody's asking you to be perfect. We just want you here with us.
Colette: Right. Smiling for the family portrait in the picture perfect house that we can't afford. Some nights, cooped up in this...trapped. It makes me want to scream. It makes me crazy.

• Permalink: Right. Smiling for the family portrait in the picture perfect house that we can't afford....

Colette is drowning in the mundaneness of her life, and the pressures as well.

That’s why she’s so drawn to Will and even Addy. It’s a break and distraction from the realities of her life. But an affair and an increasingly inappropriate coach-student relationship isn’t a permanent fix for her unhappiness.

Colette needs to make some significant choices about her future -- not only what she wants, but who she wants in it.

Odds and Ends

• The Playland Motel is the stuff of nightmares. I'll never get the image of that older gentleman doing a little dance with the JV girls out of my brain. 

• Speaking of the JV girls, why would they show up to that party in their cheerleading uniforms?

• I'm not even sure Beth knew what day it was, but she did know to mention Addy's missing hamsa bracelet the minute Addy found her in the backseat of that car. 

• Will had a wife, but she's no longer in the picture. I smell a mystery! 

• Do any parents care that their daughters are coming home drunk? Like, ever? 

• Can we get some more information on the blood? It's like that storyline doesn't matter, all of a sudden. 

Things are starting to pick up in the land of Dare Me, and I want to hear your thoughts about where you think things are headed!

Was Addy wrong to bring Beth to Colette's?

Are you Team Will or Team Matt? 

What happened to Will's wife?

Drop me a line below and watch Dare Me online right now so you can join the conversation! 

Whitney Evans is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lover of all things TV. Follow her on X.