SMILF: Season 2, Episode 4 “So Maybe I Look Feminine” – Recap, Review (with Spoilers)

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It’s Bridgette’s first weekend without Larry, and she gets an offer to hang out with Nelson – what could go wrong?

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Network
Showtime
Director(s)		Frankie Shaw
Writer(s)		Heather V. Regnier
Air Date		2/17/2019
Introduced This Episode
Himself	Kevin Bacon

A Day To Myself?: Larry, Bridgette, Rafi, Nelson

After their previous discussion, the day finally comes for Larry to spend a weekend with Rafi and Nelson. However, with Nelson being a bit curt with Larry, Bridgette gets a little worried. Not enough to make a big stink and stop the weekend visit, but she whispers a little something. You know Bridgette. She says just enough to feel like she tried but not enough for you to say she really made an effort.

But with Larry away overnight, now Bridgette decides it is time to do the things she often puts off to keep Larry entertained. Well, at least that was the plan.

How The Other Side Lives: Nelson, Bridgette, Kevin Bacon

However, while she does try to exercise, do her makeup, and more, Nelson talking to Larry in a rather dismissive way still bugs Bridgette. So, when Nelson offers a spa day, while Bridgette at first flips out, by text, to Eliza, she ends up going and has fun. Well, kind of.

In the long run, we learn this is all one giant fantasy and pretty much Bridgette’s way of getting back at Nelson and women like her. This is done by them seeming out of touch, obsessed with niche lifestyle brands like Goop, and her essentially calling them mannequins based off the pictures they take. Perhaps making the only thing which isn’t a critique being Bridgette getting finger banged by Kevin Bacon. The actual Kevin Bacon.

An Idle Mind Is The Devil’s Playground: Bridgette, Larry, Rafi

But again, that’s all a fantasy. One Bridgette came up with because her mind is so caught up on what happened to Larry that she can’t really do anything else. Would it be nice to go on a spa day? Yes. How about a polo match and meet, also get finger banged by Kevin Bacon? Absolutely. However, separate anxiety is real, and so Bridgette just asks Rafi to bring back Larry. Something he does without making a big deal out of it for which Bridgette is thankful.

Highlights

Understanding The Fantasy & The Thereafter

While Tutu and Bridgette’s relationship, when she was a child, has been touched on, it is mostly in how Tutu enabled dangerous situations. What may not have been talked about are the little things. So with Nelson talking to Larry as she did, that might have triggered something in Bridgette. For that whole shut down look and lowering her voice thing, that is class Bridgette after Tutu raises her voice.

Hence the whole fantasy for only in that world would Bridgette speak up loudly for herself, without being put into a corner first. Yet, another part of the fantasy deals with what Rafi and Nelson offer compared to Bridgette. I mean, making pancakes together? It’s cute, normal, and look at how clean that kitchen is? That’s why Bridgette ends up becoming blonde, going to a polo game, and meeting a man like Kevin Bacon. She wants to fit into that ideal world where something as simple as eyeliner she has tricks to make look perfect.

But, perfect for Bridgette, normal for Bridgette, doesn’t fit in that world. Why else would she, at such a swanky event, piss in the woods? Who else but Bridgette would be fine with getting finger banged in a barn by a celebrity she just met? Never mind making it a big deal publicly like he gave her a rose?

And that might explain why she made herself puke in the end. While she pushed back against the Nelsons of the world in her fantasy, at the end of the day, she is still a minority (monetary or class wise) to them and the lifestyle they push out there. The chances of Bridgette meeting the perfect guy at some swanky event are slim. Her being able to afford to get a last minute hair appointment isn’t likely. Heck, just as a single mom, keeping Larry clean, happy, and mentally unscarred takes up a lot of her time and yet it is something she lives for. So be it her rejecting a part of herself, shame over binging food, or maybe just another unhealthy way of her dealing with things, she made herself puke.

Separation Anxiety

Another important thing to note is separation anxiety. While how your body changes, your relationships, and time management often get highlighted, separation anxiety isn’t shown as much. Now, Bridgette may not veer towards the point of believing Rafi may hurt Larry or put him a dangerous situation, but SMILF does address the change in Bridgette’s mood.

Also, like most of the episode, it counters the idea that when the baby is away, momma is free to play. Bridgette now has a huge amount of non-Larry issues to deal with and worry about, and it makes just having to worry about this kid being fed, happy, and clean seem like a blessing. Especially since, for doing so, she’ll get a smile, a hug, a kiss, and some sort of enjoyment. That is, compared to being an adult which is thankless and, at best, keeps your head above water.

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