Slo Pitch Episode 1 “I’d Do Anything For Love” and Episode 2 “NFA’s” are a hilarious introduction to the Bovaries, one that should surprise no one who (like me!) once watched the web series this is based on. But comparison is the thief of joy, so we will forget about the web series and focus on what the Crave show has managed to do, which is pretty damn good.
Mockumentaries are complicated, and Slo Pitch starts out with a premise that lends itself to the genre. This is a beer baseball league. Joanne and Leanne (the rhyme is already a bad sign) broke up. They used to coach the Brovaries together. Now Joanne is a little depressed, and Leanne is thriving. And dating a man. Gasp.
But this is a comedy, and the team is rallying behind Joanne. They’re just not all that good at rallying. And Joanne isn’t all that good at moving on. In “I’d Do Anything For Love,” we see the Brovaries spy on Leanne, and then try to manage her feelings, to hilarious results. In “NFA’s,” we discover that, actually, everyone kind of wants to sleep with everyone. But that’s fine! There’s no drama here.
And when I say everyone, I mean not everyone. Boris wants to sleep with Barb (and has). Joanne kinda wants to sleep with Sasha. Sasha seems like she wouldn’t mind, though she also seems like a commitment-phobe. Probably a good person to rebound with! Except this is a TV show, so things are bound to get complicated. Then there’s Ann, who wants to sleep with Mel. Except Mel doesn’t want relationships to ruin things for her.
The romantic hijinks give the show a lot of funny moments, but what makes Slo Pitch work is really smart writing and actors who are having a lot of fun out there (and who have a lot of chemistry). Looking at the camera in a mockumentary-type show and making it seem like you are in on the joke, but not like you know that sometimes you are the joke, requires a specific kind of calibration, comedy-wise. Everyone on the cast nails it, and we’re left feeling like we are indeed getting a glimpse of what these people are like behind the scenes.
And what they are is a very bad team, but a really good group. Except, you know, for Leanne. Sorry, Emily Hampshire, but you are the enemy here. Not even for dumping Joanne or dating a man, but for those cringe social media ads that only Joanne finds attractive. That’s how you know it’s real love. Marry the person you think your cringe is beautiful or something. Or don’t, because Leanne sucks. Sasha is right there!
If we had to pick favorites, and we all kinda do, even without meaning to, mine would undoubtedly be Boris. There’s something so unhinged about Boris, and that’s not just fun; it’s incredibly attractive. Especially considering we live in a world where women are not often allowed to be like Boris. Slo Pitch, meanwhile, celebrates Sasha and her makeup kit just as much as it celebrates Boris’ uniqueness.
And it even gives Joanne, a character who on another show might be the boring one, a certain charm. Sure, we kinda want to shake her at times, and the shirt is still killing us (really Joanne? really?), but it’s hard not to root for her, at least a little. Especially when her super hot and kinda scary boss (Nadine Bhabha) is behaving like every horrible boss ever, except you know, looking super good while doing it.
But it also does another thing that’s kinda rare: it doesn’t judge any character. Even Zari, the straight one, is given space to exist. She might be the butt of the joke sometimes, but she isn’t alone. Everyone’s the butt of the joke. This sets the show apart from other mockumentaries where it seems like there’s always one person we’re all collectively supposed to be laughing at.
Overall, Slo Pitch is a delightful comedy, one that celebrates all types of women, but that also celebrates queerness by making it the norm, not the exception. Sure, there are straight people out there! There’s even one on this team, as much as Zari would love to not be sometimes. But we love everyone on this show (beer league). And everyone loves us.
Except Leanne. Leanne can bite me.
New episodes of Slo Pitch release Fridays on Crave.
