‘Life and Beth’ Season 2 Shows That Healthy Communication in Relationships Is Sexy

What if the world’s most underrated kink is couples counseling? The second season of Amy Schumer‘s Hulu series Life & Beth uses therapy to bring the romantic relationship between Beth (Schumer) and John (Michael Cera) to the next level.

Premiering in 2022, the series follows the titular character through the highs and lows of adulthood. The first season finds Beth in the immediate aftermath of her mother’s sudden death and a complicated break-up. Feeling overwhelmed, Beth leaves Manhattan to return home to Long Island where she meets a quiet farmer named John, whom she begins dating in the finale.

Season 2, which aired in full on Feb. 16, 2024, sees Beth and John hitting the accelerator on their romance as they decide to get married and have a baby while navigating their issues with communication and past traumas.

When Beth becomes pregnant in the second half of the season, John throws himself into renovating their home to make it ideal for their growing family. During this time, Beth begins to recall increasingly volatile moments from her teenage relationships, which culminated in her being sexually assaulted.

Beth and John stop having sex and they start arguing more before Beth admits that she doesn’t feel safe in their home with it being in a constant state of renovation and various construction crew members coming in and out of every room. John fears that she wants to leave him, though Beth makes it clear that she doesn’t feel that way.

Together, they visit John’s therapist, who he regularly sees for his recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The session occurs in the penultimate episode, “Toxic,” in which Beth and John discuss the current state of their relationship, with Beth emphasizing her need for a safe home environment. While John struggles to understand Beth’s needs and feelings, he’s receptive to them, and the scene builds to a complex and beautiful conversation.

“I’m glad I’m here, I really want this to work,” Beth says to the therapist, who tells her in return, “It’s up to you and John to choose to be in this marriage, to show up for each other every single day. I mean, that’s all life is… just choices.”

Beth agrees and explains, “I’m trying to remind myself that [John’s] not the other men who have been in my life… Even when he doesn’t really know how to be there, he shows up for me. Sometimes he gets really fixated on things and that makes me feel unsafe and abandoned.”

The therapist interprets Beth’s words, and repeats back, “Right, because that’s what you’re used to. John, do you hear what Beth is saying?” John replies,, “Yeah, she needs to feel safe because she never has.”

The therapist points out that their home environment is triggering for Beth, to which John responds, “When she doesn’t believe in me, that’s triggering for me… Actually, our home is very nearly done, but I hear what she’s — what you’re saying.”

Beth mentions that they can temporarily move into a house in upstate New York that one of her work clients have access too, and John agrees.

Later, when driving upstate, John starts to talk about bone broth and doulas to support Beth through the pregnancy, and she’s immediately turned on and initiates car sex. “You are, like, meeting my needs so fucking hard right now,” she tells him.

As it turns out, healthy communication is the key to success in Beth and John’s relationship. The next episode shows them more in tune with each other than ever before as Beth continues to have traumatic flashbacks throughout her pregnancy and is rushed into labor.

The storyline imitates real-life experiences with therapy, as according to Forbes, research shows that couples therapy has an positive impact on roughly 70% of people seeking treatment, and Very Well Mind cites that 66% of couples who participated in couples therapy and later stopped, did so because their problems were resolved.

So, Life & Beth was right when they showed us that healthy communication in relationships is, like, super sexy.

Life & Beth is streaming on Hulu.