Oh life. When you think about it, it’s a series of choices, moments, and mistakes. Some mistakes will guide you and some will change you. Some you will look back on, knowing you made the world a better place.
And some you will regret. Single Drunk Female feels like a mix of it all.
Though I am pretty sure (hoping at least) we’ll figure out why Sam is an alcoholic, we don’t start with that. We start with her showing up really late for a meeting, drunk out of her mind, and trying really badly to prove her point. But Vodka is basically seeping from her pores and her boss isn’t having it.
He fires her. She tries to change the subject, basically being like you are firing me because I am standing up for myself – I am a woman saying something true. She tries to scare him with saying that she’s going to find a lawsuit in the whole situation.
She refuses to be fired and I personally think she partially takes a seat and says that she’s not leaving, because she’s drunk. But when her boss calls security, she tries to grab the phone and accidentally clocks him with it. Everyone is staring on and she really just looks empty staring at the whole situation.
But hey, she’s definitely getting a lawsuit out of this. Only, it’s one against her for assault. Community service and rehab is what she gets for her actions, though I am not sure that Sam knows what she’s done or that she has a problem.
Part of the deal that she gets from the court is that she has to go to rehab.
Coming face to face with the reasons that you drink is not an easy thing. Coming face to face with the reasons you do anything is not easy. But facing down your addictions is one of the strongest things that you can do.
Sam finishes her rehab stay and her Mama comes to get her. It takes seconds before you realize that her Mom may not be the best place for her to be. Her Mom wants her to hurry up, because she has a book club to get to. Ok, what am I missing out on that your child gets out of rehab you’d rather go to a book club than make sure that your child is safe and settling okay?
I mean, I guess there is a reason she calls her Mom, “mother smother.” Her mother is judgy AF. Sams Mom wants to know if when she was in therapy they talked about her the whole time. She’s like sure, all about you, but even Sam admits that there was a lot of talking about her Mom.
Her Mom doesn’t seem to realize that it’s not that you do 30 days in rehab and it’s all great. It’s not even close to being in recovered. Every single day for the rest of her life. Sam will be in recovery and her support system matters.
They have such a weird relationship. It’s as if her Mom doesn’t get that Sam is going through a lot and that she needs her, I don’t know what to say. I thought that they’d work through these things in rehab, but based off the fact she didn’t even know her therapist, I am guessing that Mom didn’t ever show up.
Sam needs to see her probation officer, and her Mom makes some remark about how she hopes that it is a man, because they let things go when the girl is pretty. There are limited words on what I am going to say there, because like Mom, you be a problem.
Sam’s probation officer may be one of my favorite characters in this show. She’s smart, sassy, and isn’t taking shit. We meet her and she’s on the phone with her sister, whose husband died. Her husband was 87 and her sister is now rich.
Sam thinks that she’s got this probation officer that is really cool, but she’s completely no nonsense. Filled with excuses, Sam is like I had a bad day that turned out to be a crime. It goes to show that she doesn’t realize how much of an addiction she has.
She doesn’t realize that she got an amazing deal, and when brought to her attention, she has a smart ass retort – that if it was great, she would be at home watching every iteration of Pride & Prejudice ever made.
But Sam’s non-realization of what is happening doesn’t stop there. When she finds that she needs to attend AA every day for 90 days, her response is what if she did 3 meetings a day for 30 days?
I worry about Sam and if she realizes that what she is – well, is an addict. Is it because she was forced to get help versus seeing she needed help?
I do know more than I want to about alcoholism, because it has affected my entire life. From my experience, an alcoholic needs to realize they have an issue before they get help. Forcing it will result in a lot of issues.
Sam is being forced to get help. She goes to a meeting and the lady won’t sign her paper until after the meeting. Olivia, is a no nonsense sponsor, who even with the new people that she’s not sponsoring, isn’t about to let anyone half ass anything.
Sam doesn’t want to be in AA meetings, but it is what she needs. She heads straight from AA to a bar – which isn’t smart. Her best friend, Felicia, shows up and isn’t the most supportive person to Sam not drinking. Hell, Sam’s not the most supportive person to herself, and says that, “sobriety is one day at a time so she’ll start over again tomorrow.”
Sam doesn’t have control over herself. She isn’t dealing with her issues. She confronts Brit, this ex-friend that is now marrying her ex. She hasn’t let it go and acts like she is still in high school and carrying on this craziness. She gets in an argument with her and then wants to leave to go home.
Driving drunk is not a smart choice, but what Sam is, well – she’s full of stupid fucking choices. She’s full of thinking that she can handle everything though she can’t. And hey, Sofia Black-D’Elia plays it all perfectly. She’s a joy – playing the character with such strength and vulnerability, but really makes you feel like Sam is a real person that you can relate to.
Sam seems to like being a victim versus taking control of her life. She makes stupid choices rather taking control of her life. But I do honestly believe that Sam thinks that she is taking control of her life.
For instance when she drives drunk – stupid choice. She doesn’t even make it out of the parking lot, hitting the party bus, ending up in jail. She calls Olivia, while drunk, to get her out. You can tell that she was blackout drunk, because she doesn’t remember making the call and begging for a chicken sandwich.
Olivia drives Sam home, which is the last place she wants to be. Her Mom is pissed, even though she says she’s not. When Sam tries to explain, her Mom is kind of cold. She even tells her that she’s going to Brit and Joel’s wedding. That’s supportive Mom.
Her Mom doesn’t get it. Her Mom continues down her path of treating Sam like she doesn’t matter as much saying that she paid for rehab when she could have gotten a neck lift. Ummm.. ok. Like your kid is suffering, but lets guilt her.
The only thing that Mom does right is telling her to get a job and with your job you’re gonna pay me rent.
Sam manages to avoid jail time. Her probation officer had suggested 60 days of jail time, and with overcrowding it would have been like 2 week. Sam is lucky that the judge overruled her and Sam isn’t going to jail. Over 12 months Sam needs to maintain sobriety, 250 hour community service, and drivers ed. Sams like easy enough.
Nothing is easy Sam. But hard work is part of the journey.
Sam is craving alcohol, so one of the first responsible things that she does is goes to Olivias. I truly believe that Olivia is one of the most positive influences and she understands Sam’s issues. Alcoholism is a disease. Olivia is there to make sure she doesn’t drink. She’s also kind enough to help her get a job.
At least Sam’s Mom, Carol, says something nice and tells her that she’s proud of her.
Look, I love Aly Sheedy, so I don’t want to be an asshole, but Carol is a character I hate. She’s selfish, rude, and demeaning to her daughter. She doesn’t seem to want ro help her grow, but instead wants to consistently take jabs at her.
Carol is drinking in front of Sam, which I think is not okay. Not this early in Sams recovery. . She’s like I can drink, it’s okay right? And Sam tells her it’s okay. But when Sam tries to talk to her and explain what she’s going through, telling her that alcohol is a disease. Sams Mom is like you don’t have a disease – I know what a disease looks like, undercutting her daughter and making it seem like she’s out of her mind. Mom is like if you wanna call yourself sick call yourself sick, but don’t judge me for having wine at night. Everyone wants wine at night.
It’s hard to be a person. is Carol’s excuse. Well no shit Carol, it is hard to be a person for everyone, but you don’t have to be a bitch.
Sams like doing the best I can. Her Moms like welcome, the rest of us having been doing the best we can – while you’ve been drinking.
While the journey is just beginning, we’re here for every step. Single Drunk Female is innovative, smart, and personable. We’re all in.
You should be too.
