Your Friends and Neighbors episode 3 review: Of moths, lies & $30,000 toilets

Your Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV+ has released three episodes so far, and if you thought the first two episodes were a whirlwind of quiet class warfare and lavish family drama, episode three just took it up a notch. Unofficially titled “Let’s Emotionally Ruin Coop Some More,” this episode intensifies the petty backstabbing—there’s a mafia-grade warning about a pawn shop—and features, perhaps, the most ostentatiously flushed toilet in the world.

This is a recap-turned-review of the jaw-dropping antics from each episode, organized by which character made us laugh, shout, or cry into a beautifully embroidered throw pillow.

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Coop: Sad boy season continues (now with B&E skills)

Coop, now desperate and wearing a deadpan mask, is slowly being driven mad by Jon Hamm's performance. He's hit rock bottom after losing his job and being drained dry by a divorce that would make a Greek hero weep. Now he's turned to petty theft, robbing his overly posh neighbors. Picture Ocean’s Eleven but with a single guy in a quarter-zip who shops at Whole Foods out of remorse.

In this episode, Coop's shady business dealings with Lu, the pawn shop queenpin (she's a whole mood), a $2,000-an-hour lawyer-ninja Massiello, and the sobering self-reflection of an empty home furnace boiling pasta all simultaneously reach a head.

Oh, and he nearly gets caught stealing from the Resnicks while their daughter is busy engaging with a classmate two rooms over. Just your typical suburban dad activities!

What takes the scores is that Coop walks into Nick's piss-off spectacle with a stolen expensive wine, props to Coop, and tells everyone at the party how his ‘Dubai-based family office’ owns it before binging on the hate-monologue at the stubby fingers of his ‘friends’ while silently sobbing into a canapé. Don Draper versus The Bling Ring—we don’t know, but we’re here for it.

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Mel: Moth queen & gaslight champion 2025

Just when we thought Mel couldn’t be more of a villain, she finds a way to go full Shakespearean manipulator — but make it tennis-themed. Upon discovering a moth infestation in Coop’s house (the one she booted him from), Mel realizes she needs $9000 to fumigate.

Rather than, say, paying for it herself like a functional adult, she crafts a diabolical lie about their daughter Tori needing a new tennis coach at $1000 a week. You know, just casually swindling your ex with fake sports aspirations. Totally normal behavior!

The worst part? This comes after Mel has a pseudo-enlightening heart-to-heart with Samantha during a self-defense class (which, by the way, opens with “Who wants to get r*ped?"—a" sentence that deserves its own cringe trophy).

For a fleeting second, Mel seems to realize she might be the villain in her own story. But nope. She doubles down with the moth-lie and walks away with the smugness of a Bond villain who just funded her lair with PTA dues.

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Barney, the broke bro with a heart of gold (and a weak stomach)

Hats off to Barney, the Coop’s lawyer and culprit, who uses eighty percent of the time for giving advice and secreting evil plans in his capacity as the lawyer.

He makes Coop hire a lawyer for a big sum of money, then he unintentionally makes him go to Nick’s party. Later he even winds up relieving his stomach into a $30,000 unplumbed toilet that might have its own Instagram account.

Unless somebody proves us wrong, there is no better description of the combination of wealth and emptiness of Westmont Village than this one.

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Ali: Heroine, rockstar, aunt supreme

Ali is literally the only positive thing that happens in this suburban town. Not too long ago, Ali was at the club and experienced a pick-up from a stranger, and that's when she went to help Hunter, who was losing his mind at a party.

She gets the door open, utters something cool in a very relaxed mood while smoking a joint, and then she tells about her fear of being looked at as a monster. Who was the only grown-up in that story to be given a vote, really?

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Hunter, Tori & the teens: Angst, fungi, and quiet rebellion

Hunter looks to music to discover himself but instead finds himself high, being locked in the bathroom, and calling his aunt. Only for a brief period, Tori is possibly shacking up with her boyfriend.

This could be something that the B-story characters from the Euphoria show would be doing, and we would only be mildly worried about it. However, on a positive note, at least Hunter gets through his horrible trip, the aftermath of which he gets a school confidence boost. Small victories!

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Closing thoughts: Is Coop doomed? Is Mel human? Who dies next?

I'll give this episode an 8.5/10⭐

In the episode, Coop is seen breaking into Nick's house in order to take an NBA championship ring (everyone wants to commit a federal crime now), and Detective Lin is the one who is closing in on Brad Sperling's disappeared watch. In the middle of this, we are served family dysfunction, gaslighting, and more theft than we can count; therefore, the wreckage is guaranteed.

Notably, there are some open questions related to Mel. Is there an underlying tragic story that is hidden from us but that could explain her cruelty? Maybe she is the ultimate form of Westmont Village entitlement?

Anyhow, episode 3 is the combination of drama and comedy that reaches its highest point — a highly engaging, satirical, and unceremoniously heartfelt script with surprising exposé moments. Expect to be sucked into Jon Hamm’s many crises and then be stunned by the attempt at a coup using pests, pot brownies, and pawned Rolexes.

Best moments: Ali’s words of wisdom in the bathroom and Coop’s increasingly creative heists.

Villain of the Week: Mel, without a shadow of a doubt.