So Help Me Todd 1×02 “Co-Pilot,” ironically, feels like a second Pilot. This is the episode where the dynamics get established and where the supporting characters outside of Todd and Margaret are given a chance to win us over. That doesn’t mean they all work yet, but the show does try to give us a glimpse at some dynamics outside of the mother-son relationship.
It does that, however, while still focusing mostly on what works. And, if we’re being honest, most people aren’t watching So Help Me Todd 1×02 “Co-Pilot” because of anything other than Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin.
Who Are These Other People?
For a show like So Help Me Todd to work, at some point, we’re going to have to look outside the main dynamic, that much is true. At this point, though, that feels a bit like asking too much. Susan is probably the standout at this point, not even because she gets to do all that much, but because …well, she’s the one they’re setting up to be Todd’s love interest, so she gets a bit more of a focus. There hasn’t been an aha, I care moment with her and Todd yet, but that is presumably coming? Or at least the show will try? At any rate, it’ll at least be easier than getting us to care about Todd and Lyle’s rivarly, or whatever that is.
Then there’s Allison, Todd’s sister, who seems like she’s just around to call both her mom and her brother out on their bullshit, which is kinda fun right now, but can get old fast. However, if the show can also give whatever issues she’s having in her marriage some screen time, she might end up being a fun character and the show can milk the family dynamics.
We Care About Only One Thing
But of course, so far, the one thing that really works in this show is …Margaret and Todd, as two people who really don’t see eye to eye, and who have allowed that fact to even obscure what they think of each other. Of course, they’re far from where they need to be. They don’t always respect each other, or trust each other. But not so deep down, they do care. The show has done enough to establish that, which means it’s easy to stick around for the rest of the journey.
It’s also easy to imagine more cases like this one, where their two contrasting approaches end up working out, not because one of them is right and the other one is wrong, but because mother and son actually compliment each other. Sure, Todd could learn to look before he leaps. But Margaret could learn to think outside the box every once in a while.
So Help Me Todd airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.
