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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
J.G. Quintel and his crew are back with their third season of the HBO Max/ Cartoon Network Studios adult animated sitcom series, Close Enough. I got a chance to see it early as well as to conduct a brief interview with the creator, Quintel, himself. For now, here is a review of the show.
In this review, I will be discussing Close Enough Season 3. There will be no spoilers here, as the title of this article suggests. Nonetheless, please read ahead at your own discretion to avoid any possible plot reveals.
Plot Synopsis
According to WarnerMedia, here is the synopsis for Close Enough Season 3.
From HBO Max and JG Quintel, creator of the Emmy Award-winning ‘Regular Show‘, comes ‘Close Enough‘, a surreal animated comedy about a married couple, their five-year-old daughter, and their two divorced best friends/ roommates all sharing a cramped apartment on the east side of Los Angeles. They’re navigating that chaotic time in your 30s when you’re struggling to grow up without growing old. It’s about juggling work, kids, and pursuing your dreams, all while avoiding alien fitness cults, yacht-rock vampires, and silent film era bison. Their life may not be ideal but for now, it’s close enough.
WarnerMedia
Close Enough Season 3 Episode List
The episode listing for Close Enough Season 3 — all directed by Quintel and Calvin Wong — is as follows.
- “Where the Buffalo Roam” (written by Eileen Alvarez and Aaron Burdette) & “Venice Vengeance” (written by Alvarez)
- “Hellspital” (written by Burdette) & “Candice Candice Revolution” (written by Sean O’Connor)
- “Randy Free Solos” (written by Burdette) & “Summer Job” (written by Alison Agosti)
- “Bridgette the Brain” (written by Sierra Katow) & “Never Meet Your Heroes” (written by Burdette)
- “Robots with Benefits” (written by Jordan Young) & “The Weird Kid” (written by Agosti)
- “Legend of the Pier” (written by Agosti) & “Bike and Survive” (written by Agosti, Alvarez, and Burdette)
- “Halloween Enough” (written by Burdette, O’Connor, and Opeyemi Olagbaju)
- “The Perfect Couple” (written by Agosti) & “Match Made in Valhalla” (written by Katow)
Discussion
This third season of J.G. Quintel’s Close Enough brings us along on new journeys as the adult protagonists grow with one another in their Los Angeles home. The time setting is important to note, as we begin with episodes that begin in the late spring/ early summer and suddenly, we find the characters celebrating Halloween. Season 3 serves as the first season where the series features a holiday-themed episode, as Quintel himself confirmed in an interview with The Cinema Spot. (More on that in an upcoming article.)
At this point, Quintel is an expert in animation, having previously worked on renowned Cartoon Network properties including Camp Lazlo, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, and most notably, Regular Show. Close Enough is a mirror display of where the creative is at in his life, and with the third season, we see that there are many challenges and obstacles during the “adulting” stage of life.
Season 3 covers many topics and issues that are relatable to what we are currently living with. Saving up for honeymoons and going abroad, trust in one’s healthcare system, obeying certain unwritten rules and norms, exploring sexuality, living up to a parent’s expectations, keeping up with the latest digital technologies of the twenty-first century, and pretty much just keeping up with the times as it moves forward.
Interesting Episodes to Note in Terms of Continuity
In my interview with Quintel, I did bring up some episodes that establish future storylines of the series. Without spoiling them, I will elaborate on them here.
The Season 3 opener, “Where the Buffalo Roam”, involves Josh (Quintel) and Emily (Walsh) investing money into what they hope to be their honeymoon… but life happens, and it is not what they were expecting it to be. The finale episode, then, is a rather surprising one, with huge development in a character dynamic occurring.
This is not the only episode to go full circle. In Season 2 Episode 7A, “Where’d You Go, Bridgette?”, Bridgette (Glenn) is challenged by Pearle (Brooks) to spend hours away from her phone. In Episodes 304A and 306A, “Bridgette the Brain” and “Legend of the Pier”, we return to a focus on the Japanese-American character’s obsession with her phone and the digital realm. Although being a social media influencer is essentially who she is, so I guess there is no way to take that away from her.
I implore you to see Episode 307, “Halloween Enough”, which I felt possessed something special for fans of Quintel’s works. That is all I can say about it for now…
The Cast and Crew of Close Enough Season 3
Cast
Quintel voices Joshua “Josh” Singleton, while Gabrielle Walsh portrays the character’s wife, Emily Ramirez. Jessica DiCicco plays their daughter, Candice Singleton-Ramirez.
Jason Mantzoukas and Kimiko Glenn voice Alex Dorpenberger and Bridgette Hashima, their roommates, respectively. Danielle Brooks appears as the voice of Pearle Watson — their landlord and a retired African-American LAPD police officer; while James Adomian voices her adopted white son, Randall “Randy” Watson.
In order of their appearance, additional voices in the season include Laraine Newman, Laura Dickinson, Dan Navarro, Fletcher Sheridan, Meloney Collins, Diamond White, Debra Wilson, Danny Cooksey, Keith Szarabajka, Scott Whyte, Roger Craig Smith, Rich Sommer, Henry Winkler, Courtenay Taylor, William Salyers, John Early, Eden Riegel, Matt Mercer, Nancy Linari, Kelly Ohanian, Max Mittelman, Leonardo Nam, Monét X Change, Ike Amadi, Eugene Cordero, Seth Morris, Stephen Hsu, Suzy Nakamura, George Newbern, Brian Blessed, Andy Daly, Anjelika Washington, Grey Griffin, Scott Menville, Paul Eiding, Fred Tatasciore, Nikki Glaser, Josh Keaton, Kari Wahlgren, Fairuza Balk, Armin Shimerman, Rich Fulcher, Aaron Burdette, David Davis, Bea Ritter, and Calvin Wong.
The Writers’ Room of Close Enough Season 3
The writers’ room for this season includes the following.
Quintel, Bill Oakley, Michael Colton, John Aboud, Alison Agosti, Sierra Katow, Sean O’Connor, Eileen Alvarez, Opeyemi Olagbaju, Calvin Wong, as well as Stephanie Amante-Ritter, Gabe Delahaye, Melissa Hunter, Chris Kula, Marlena Rodriguez, Craig Rowin, and Jordan Young.
The Crew
Quintel, Oakley, Colton, Aboud, and Sam Register serve as the executive producers of the series, while Burdette and O’Connor serve as the co-executive producers. Ryan Slater and Calvin Wong serve as the supervising producers. Jessica Yost is the art director, while Robert Alvarez serves as the supervising animation art director.
Storyboard writers include Siti Lu, Hye Lynn Park, Sammy Savos, Tynan Wilson, David Davis, Bea Ritter, Jessica Xu, and Raul Cuerra, as well as Janice Chun and William Wibisono.
Storyboard artists include Siti Lu, Andres Salaff, and Brendan Regulinski, as well as Nora Meek. Storyboard revisionists include Julie Kwon, Hye Lynn Park, as well as Marcy Bones, Sammy Savos, and Kaden Westbrook.
Background designers include Erik Caines, Shelly Liu, Rebecca Mock, Art Morales, Katie Rose, Shane McDermott, Tiffany Wei, Kat Lyons, Alex Campos, Ben Anderson, well as Orissa Jenkins, Cody Wiley, Britney Thoreson, Kati Prescott, John Berman, Jeff Starling, and Nath Milburn.
Kris Zimmerman Salter serves as the casting and recording director, while Linda Lamontagne also serves as the casting director. Sidney Deng serves as the character designer, with Quintel joining for “The Weird Kid”. Mark Mothersbaugh, John Enroth, and Albert Fox serve as the composers of the series.
Performances and Character Developments
DiCicco’s Candice has more to learn this season, with her father teaching her, “Some rules are meant to be broken”. Her dynamic with her landlord Pearle and her mother Emily flourishes in Episodes 301B and 305B, “Venice Vengeance” and “The Weird Kid”, respectively.
Mantzoukas’s Alex has a good subarc in the “Hellspital” episode that is worthy of merit. With where the world has been over the past how many decades, and most importantly the two years and a month since the pandemic had put us in a lockdown, this is an episode that I highly suggest watching. If you are still not enlightened by this, then you might have difficulty digesting the rest of the season. He further deals with health-related matters in Episode 306B, “Bike and Survive”.
His relationship (or lack thereof) with Bridgette becomes an interesting one in the finale episode, “The Perfect Couple” and “Match Made in Valhalla”. In the former story, they learn to deal with a couple (Josh and Emily) who have a child (Candice); meanwhile, in the latter story, well…
In Episode 303A, “Randy Free Solos”, we discover Adomian’s Randy exploring his sexuality. Not only do we see him climbing upwards in life, but this proves just as challenging when he has some bad falls along the way.
Final Thoughts on J.G. Quintel’s Close Enough Season 3
This season of Close Enough veers the main characters into a new path. The show itself is aware that it is well-established in terms of setting (time and location), so its new concern is: what comes next? Now that we know who the characters are and where they are situated, the only move that should follow is forward. Eventually, Candice will need to grow older; Josh cannot just stay working at TV Town Plugger Inners; Alex and Bridgette have to do something about their divorce; and we need to get answers about those dang Regular Show Easter Eggs.
Close Enough Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max.
Stay tuned for my interview with series creator, J.G. Quintel, about this new season of his adult animated sitcom show!
Will you be watching this season of J.G. Quintel’s series? If so, let us know! For more animation-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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