Single Drunk Female: Season 1/ Episode 1 “Pilot” [Series Premiere] – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Gaining legal access to alcohol is seen as a right of passage. But, as shown in Single Drunk Female, alcohol also can become a crutch that is so hard to let go of.

Aired	1/20/2022
Network	FreeForm
Created By	Simone Finch
Directed By	Leslye Headland
Written By	Simone Finch
Genre	Comedy, Drama, Young Adult, LGBT, Family
Introduced This Episode
Sam	Sofia Black-D’Elia
Carol	Ally Sheedy
Olivia	Rebecca Henderson
Felicia	Lily Mae Harrington
Brit	Sasha Compère

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

Plot Overview

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Sam, who has been a drinker for at least 12 years, hit rock bottom when she decided to start showing up for work drunk and hit her former boss when she got fired. Now, she lives with her mom, Carol, who seems to be on some form of Eat, Pray, Love after her husband died of leukemia, Sam’s dad, and trying to deal with a daughter who is an alcoholic. Which isn’t easy for Sam either since, without a job, and without friends who don’t make her want to drink, for good and bad reasons, she is a bit lost.

Thankfully, court-mandated AA leads to Sam recruiting Olivia to be her sponsor, and with Olivia being a Peabody award-winning journalist, she isn’t just the sponsor Sam needs, but a mentor – since Sam is a writer. One whose story unfolds by taking things one day at a time.

Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs

Life moves forward even if you don’t.
— Brit

Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. What is the reason Sam drinks so heavily? What thoughts or feelings is she trying to avoid, or is this just a case of, she would drink because she liked the taste and how it made her feel – with issues with her mom and dad’s death, not really playing a major role?

What Could Happen Next

1. Considering we have a sobriety ticker on screen, expect that to restart to day zero throughout the series.
2. Olivia potentially relapsing, just to show even if you have more than a decade of sobriety, you can still falter.
3. Sam going from alcoholism to another form of addiction.

Review

Highlights

Understanding Alcohol Dependency Beyond Those Who Are Reckless

While alcohol is usually treated as a reward for a hard day or week, or to celebrate, so comes Carol’s comment on drinking after the day she had. It puts a nice spin on things by showing Sam as someone who takes things to the extreme and is the dictionary example of an alcoholic. Yet there are also those who drink every day and have the same dependency but see nothing wrong with it.

To us, it puts it in perspective that there are a lot of functioning alcoholics. It’s just most can hide their addiction, routine, habit, whichever word makes them feel less judged.

On The Fence

A Wood Burning Over Type Of Show

Right now, I’d say the message is stronger than the characters. Don’t get me wrong, they are all comical, whether they employ dry humor like Olivia or are big personalities like Sam’s former drinking buddy Felicia. But, I can definitely understand why this show is premiering with two back-to-back episodes, for in setting up what this show is about, making sure its messaging is strong, the characters take a bit of a backseat.

Initial Impression

FreeForm has a knack for creating relatable content for 20 and maybe 30 something year-olds, while trying to find different paths to take which can’t be found on every other network. I think with Single Drunk Female, they may have done it again. It addresses alcoholism, sobriety, and the dependences adults have to get through life. With humor, yes, but also the kind of honesty that doesn’t feel like it is begging for awards, but just presenting life as it is.

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