In Season 3, 'Difficult People' Remains Viciously Funny & Cole Escola Shines Bright

There comes a point in almost any sitcom when a secondary character - a "crazy next door neighbor" type - starts to shine bright and become a fan favorite. It happened with Kramer (Michael Richards) on "Seinfeld," with Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) on "Friends," Sheldon "Bazinga" Cooper (Jim Parsons) on "The Big Bang Theory," and it's happening on Season 3 of "Difficult People," which airs August 8 on Hulu, with Cole Escola.

Escola plays Matthew, a sassy and crude waiter who is a coworker of Billy (Billy Eichner). Having been on "Difficult People" since its start three years ago, and having a hilarious story arc last year where his engagement to a much older man ended in shocking disaster, Escola's Matthew has more to do this season and seems to be going through an identity crisis: He's still adjusting to the reality that his bosses, Nate (Derrick Baskin) and wife Denise (Gabourey Sidibe), adopted a child and Matthew is no longer the center of Denise's world.

In episode two, "Strike Rat," Matthew's much-discussed, and little-believed, ex-wife Trish unexpectedly shows up and is played by none other than Vanessa Williams, just one of the many all-star guests who appear on Season 3.

"Trish, what are you doing in town?" Matthew asks his former wife after she stops by his restaurant. "You know I'm still a slave to the cock, right?"

They explain as a top "balloon artist," she's been invited for a residency at The Balloon Saloon. Later on in the episode, one of the best of Season 3, Trish seduces Matthew afterhours at the restaurant, resulting one of the most hilarious and outrageous scenes in the history of "Difficult People." Escola proves his true comedic chops here; that he can play ball with some huge talent without breaking or dropping a beat.

Though Escola steals the show in much of the new season, Eichner and Julie Klausner, who created the comedy, continue their vicious misanthropic humor. But unlike the last two seasons, Season 3 of "Difficult People" is more political than ever, dialing back the pop culture jokes and skewering the Trump administration as often as they can. They dump trash in a tourist's car who asked directions to Trump Tower, Quiznos apparently has the best healthcare in New York City ("Ever since Trump replaced the Department of Health with Jenny McCarthy's blog nothing makes sense," Billy explains), and Vice President Mike Pence is sending gay conversion therapy kits to health professionals - like Julie's mother Marilyn (the wonderful Andrea Martin). Hoping to scam the program, Billy and Marilyn team up and sort through the conversion therapy kit, which includes a hacky sack, "The Hangover" trilogy on DVD, drinking Coors and of course, a device for electroshock "treatment."

Along with Williams, "Difficult People" enlists Rosie O'Donnell, Amy Sedaris, Stockard Channing, Maury Povich, Larry Wilmore for guests spots. Lucy Liu and John Cho are added as well with recurring roles. Liu plays Veronica, a cold-blooded book editor who is a formidable match to Marilyn, who is looking for a book deal. Cho plays Billy's love interest and first serious boyfriend, Todd. Though Liu is excellent in her turn as a savage Anna Wintour type, Cho is miscast as a callous marketing executive; unable to convey that he's truly a dick and formidable match for Eichner's asshole Billy.

Also returning is "Saturday Night Live" star Fred Armisen as Billy's older brother Garry and Jackie Hoffman as Garry's wife, Rucchel. Hoffman, who was nominated for an Emmy for her work as Joan Crawford's maid and companion Mamacita in "Feud: Bette and Joan," easily is the best part of episode 3, "Code Change." She thinks her house is being haunted by a dybbuk (a evil spirit in Jewish mythology) and because Garry is away, she enlists Billy for help to cast the ghoul out of her home. To do so, they need a group of Jewish men who have been bar mitzvah-ed, so, in hopes of enticing the men, they create a fake profile for "the perfect Jewish woman" on the Jewish Tinder app "J-Swipe."

"My breasts are as heavy and dense as two garbage bags full of marbles. And I have the flattest, widest ass you've ever seen," Rucchel says.

Through the four episodes made available for review, Klausner and Eichner take jabs at everyone from Woody Allen, (the Women Against Wood Allen group - known as WAWA - are protesting his new Amazon series that stars Julie as a cigarette girl), a variety of apps, and there's even a sly dig at "Broad City." Not ever joke lands (you have to be from the Big Apple and have your pulse on the zeitgeist to fully get the rapid fire jokes) but the charm that's made "Difficult People" something special is still here. And if you've ever wanted to see Eichner and Klausner lay into President Trump and his supporters, then that'll be the cherry on top of Season 3.