Episodes 1 and 2 of “Single Drunk Female” season 2 were nothing but an extension of season one. James tries to get back with Sam, but Sam has made up her mind about him and does not want to pursue any relationship with him. Sam starts her job at a new place, but soon her current boss, Alex, is replaced by Nathaniel, who was her ex-boss from her previous organization. Sam and Alex decide to date each other, and Sam feels overwhelmed to see Nathaniel as her new boss. She initially quits but asks for her job back because she knows writing’s the only thing she can really do. Joel wants to let Brit’s parents know about their separation, which he does by going around and letting them know about it without keeping Brit in the loop. Brit is shamed and humiliated. Felicia and Pete solidify their relationship. Will the women in this show find their foothold?
Spoilers Ahead
Sam Goes On A Date
Sam Fink is excited to go on a date with Alex because he is someone who has not been to rehab, or attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, or had a sponsor for themselves. Sam wants to get to know Alex because, after the tumultuous end of her relationship with James, she’s looking for someone different. As the date goes on, Sam purposely does not tell Alex of her AA past and being sober for the past year, thinking Alex might judge her and not like her at all. She contemplates a lot about whether she wants to begin her relationship in this way, and she finally lets him know about her past and how she has remained sober. Alex is proud of her, and he lets her know that he is not bothered by her past but only by the fact that she is happy and healthy now and is striving to do so. Sam and Alex have just begun dating, and Sam has every reason to be afraid of being with someone who does not know much about AA and their work. Her fear was legit, and she was glad to see Alex trying to support her.
Carol Discovers Something In Sam’s Room
Carol reveals to Sam that she finds her boyfriend, Bob, very overbearing. With him being around her all the time, she finds it irritating to see his stuff all over the place. Carol tries hard to accommodate him, but the more she sees him around her house because he has moved, the more she thinks he annoys her. She lets Sam know about her predicament, and Sam asks her mother to communicate her issues directly to him instead of bringing Sam into this conversation. Carol is now expecting her daughter to do the dirty work of letting Bob know what her mother wants from him.
When Sam leaves for her date, Carol wanders into Sam’s room to see what the girl is up to and starts reading the journal she must maintain for her AA. As she starts reading, she comes across plenty of complaints about herself, and Sam has spared no details. Carol is livid, and she cannot believe her daughter went on ranting mode for fifty pages, where in detail, she describes the issues she has had with her mother over the years. Carol goes into defensive mode with Bob and tries to defend her action because she is angry. Carol is angry because she feels she has done more than enough for her daughter, and Sam should not be complaining since she is living under a roof provided by Carol. Carol always had an issue with her daughter, and she is finding one more reason to make it worse. Carol was not supposed to read her journal, which is meant for Sam’s eyes only. She makes it worse by making it all about herself. Carol plans to confront her daughter and asks for some answers, even though Bob has requested that she let it go.
Carol And Sam Have A Confrontation
Carol has all her guns ready to blaze at Sam when she returns from her date with Alex, which went well. Carol lets her know about the journal that she read about Sam. Sam loses her mind because writing about her resentments was a part of her program in AA, and it was supposed just to be an assignment given to her. Sam is all the more livid because her mother committed the biggest cardinal sin, which is violating her privacy. This proves to Sam that she is still inconsiderate about all the work the girl has been putting into herself to make things right. Carol makes the argument about herself, and Sam is not surprised to see this version of her mother. Whatever she has written about her mother in the journal is true, with Carol reacting to the way she is. Sam is clueless about how to deal with this situation at hand, and surely she has no clue how to make her mother understand her predicament, for Carol is hell-bent on proving herself right because she is using the mother card.
Felicia’s Ex Shows Up
Felicia’s ex shows up because he claims to have left his life as a stuntman in Los Angeles behind, and he wants to live closer to their son Zack because he knows he has lost a lot of years of fatherhood by not being around him. He wants to show up and be there for him. Felicia is touched to see the efforts that man has put in to make sure he remains closer to his son, but she is also not sure if she can believe him anymore. She discusses this with Pete about her ex’s situation, and she is all into letting him be a part of Zack’s life because the boy is old enough, and he needs a father, not just a father figure, in his life. Felicia is scared to let her ex around her boy for fear of the hurt her son might go through if he decides to go back to Los Angeles eventually.
Why Does Sam Move Out Of Her Mother’s Home?
Sam is in no mood to have a conversation with her mother because she would rather have a decent talk about this issue with a person who understands her reasoning instead of getting into a yelling match. Sam cannot believe that after all these years, her mother has not changed a bit and is behaving exactly the way she had expected her to. Her mother is being inconsiderate and insensitive towards Sam’s condition and the work she had put in so that her relationship with the people she loves would improve. Bob comes by her place of work to make amends and wants the mother and daughter to have a decent talk about the situation at hand. He knows Carol loves Sam, and Sam also loves her mother and is grateful for her mother providing for her.
Neither Sam nor Carol is ready to budge, nor is Carol ready to apologize for her actions. Carol knew this journal was meant for only Sam and her recovery, but she made sure to go ahead and read in detail and overreact in such a way that there was no turning back for Sam. Sam understands her mother will never try to understand her situation. Sam has a meltdown at work because of her mother, and as a last resort, she contacts Olivia and requests that she help her out.
Olivia and Sam have not spoken to each other since the former moved to Maine for her pregnancy. Olivia is the one who has guided Sam till now, and Sam has no option but to contact her and make her aware of the situation with her mother. Sam clearly states that she does not feel safe around her mother because Carol managed to breach her privacy and did not respect the boundaries she was supposed to maintain. Sam moves out of her mother’s place as per Olivia’s instructions because she does not feel safe being around a person who does not respect the boundaries set by her. Carol uses the mother card; but it would only work if Sam was 14 or 15 years old. She cannot behave the same way with her daughter, who is an adult now. Carol, as a mother, should have been most supportive and understanding instead of defending her actions and not understanding Sam’s predicament.
Sam moving out makes Carol call up Olivia and force her to “fix things” by making Sam move back in. Olivia lets her know that Carol was the one in the wrong and she should have been more understanding of the situation that Sam is in and the amount of work and progress she has made since joining AA. Carol is again being unreasonable because she thinks that as a mother, she has sacrificed a lot, and Sam has no right to rant or complain. Olivia makes it clear about Sam’s right to feel unsafe, and Carol will just have to deal with it. Bob also confronts Carol and lets her know that what she did was wrong and that she should not have read the journal in the first place. Bob makes his stance clear because he knows being honest with Carol is the only way. He loves Carol, and that’s why he does not want there to be any dishonesty between them.
Sam moves in with Brit, who is also going through issues with her parents since it was revealed to them that she and Joel have separated and are headed toward divorce. Sam always thought that after everything she and her mother had been through, Carol would understand her and help her, but it turns out Sam has to again stay away from her mother, which proves all of the points in the journal to be right.
What Can We Expect Next?
The next two episodes will have Sam, Felicia, and Brit rediscovering their friendship and trying to be there for each other. Carol will try to reconnect with her daughter, and maybe this time, she will not be defensive of her actions and want to listen to what Sam has to say. Bob being honest with Carol will probably have either a good or bad impact on the relationship they share. Nathaniel will get closer to Sam as a boss and a mentor, and he will seek comfort and friendship from her in the wake of his divorce. It would be interesting to see how Sam deals with her mother from now on.
