Slo Pitch Episode 5 ‘Self Help Me’ and Episode 6 ‘Stuck in The Field House’ put Barb (where are you, Barb?) and Boris a little bit to the side to return to Joanne and to the Joanne and Sasha of it all. It’s only been six episodes, but the show has done a pretty good job of giving all the characters a little bit of love, and these two episodes even allow Mel, one character who hasn’t really had as much to do, some time to shine.
At this point, Joanne’s character is very well established. She’s loyal to a fault, she’s a little gullible, and she is very, very invested in her team. She’s also a little bit of a disaster, the kind that doesn’t give herself enough credit and that doesn’t really see how good she is. Her relationship with Leanne probably didn’t help, even if ‘Stuck in The Field House’ also serves to give Leanne’s side some more depth.
Still, we’re 100% team Joanne to a fault here, like Sasha. You know, the Sasha who doesn’t want to date Joanne, because she’s still pretty traumatized from that bad breakup and doesn’t do commitment. The Sasha who jumped to try to help Joanne when her “life coach” turned out to be a scammer and who seemed pretty charmed by Joanne’s horrible pickup lines during their fake date.
It’s clear that Joanne and Sasha would make a far better couple than Joanne and Leanne, whose names rhyme, so that’s already a big no. But Sasha isn’t there yet, and Joanne could have gotten there, but she’s not ready to be the one to take a big leap at this point. See: the horrible ex. If anything, Joanne needs someone to want her. And yes, Sasha does, but she needs Sasha to be able to say it.
That’s the journey and all that.
Ironically, as these two are figuring out their sh*t or not figuring it out, the worst life coach in the history of the world actually manages to help the team. Ann clearly had a lot of family (read: mommy) issues to unpack, and Mel actually wanted to feel part of the team, despite everything she’d said before. It’s a little heartwarming to see, almost as much as Boris trying to support Zari by pretending she’s okay with incest.
Yes, those are words I wrote. Are you really surprised, though? This is Boris we’re talking about.
The best thing about Slo Pitch is that we go from an episode about a “life coach” that actually gives us a lot of background on all the characters, to a little bit of a bottle episode with the entire team trapped (plus Leanne and her man), and both episodes are just as fun, in different ways. And if you watch these two in conjunction with the first four, you’ll find you have a pretty good handle on the team and the characters.
Other than that, the best part about these two episodes is Baby Butter Time. No, seriously. It’s a silly song, and Boris is often a silly character, but I have not been able to get it out of my head. I’m not sure if Boris is just charming, or if the song is actually catchy, or if I’m Slo Pitch pilled, or all of the above, but I truly believe the song is genius. Song of the summer indeed. I would have also stopped dating anyone who suggested otherwise, Joanne.
Six episodes in, I’m having a lot of fun with Slo Pitch. But I also, at this point, feel like I know these characters, and like I like these characters. That’s a big win for a mockumentary show with 20+ minute episodes. And with only four episodes to go at this point, is it too early to start begging not just for US distribution, but for a Season 2?
New episodes of Slo Pitch release Fridays on Crave.
