Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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The reins of Wayne are given to Ciara Bravo, and she takes control in such a way you could forget she isn’t the title character of the show.
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| Network | ||
| YouTube Premium | ||
| Director(s) | Tessa Hoffe | |
| Writer(s) | Lauren Houseman | |
| Air Date | 1/16/2019 | |
| Introduced This Episode | ||
| Donna | Abigail Spencer | |
| Natalie | Abigail Winter | |
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My Mom Was the Best: Donna, Natalie, Bobby, Del
It has been around a year since Donna, Del’s mom, died, and we get to experience what it was like when she was around. First and foremost, the woman was funny. Not go on a stage and tell jokes funny, but the kind of funny which has you forgive a person’s faults. Which is what Del and Bobby did. For while Donna didn’t work, she brought a light to the household and even if not the closest to her sons, her relationship with Bobby and Del made her an asset to the family.
Especially for Del since, as we see now, Bobby could be a bit of an ass and mostly catered to his boys. Thus making Donna everything to Del from mom to best friend, also her cheerleader. For while she did have a friend in Natalie at school, who tried her best to be there for Del, nothing compared to ma.
Commentary
You know when a character’s absence is presented, especially for young characters, and you wonder if they may live up to the hype? Donna did that. Spencer balances out her being the fun mom, maybe with some darkness in her, but who pushes that down so her kid can be happy. Now, it isn’t clear what darkness Donna may have been dealing with, be it a mental illness, past trauma, or what, besides a pill addiction, but how she went to bat for Del is such a beautiful thing.
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Such as her supporting Del, who is a book worm and introvert, going for class president. Though this more so belongs in the summary, being that Del, formerly, liked helping people, and wanted to go to college, she wanted to be class president, so it wasn’t just her grades to boost her admissions possibility. Her mom supported this wildly and, unfortunately, it wasn’t until Bobby saw his daughter was dealing with bullies and needed a confidence boost he got on board. But, what can we say, a mother’s love is the first you know and causes the greatest feelings of loss.
But Then She Went Away: Del, Donna, Bobby
Two days before the election, a day before a blood drive Del setup for a kid on the hockey team, something happens to Donna. It isn’t 100% clear if she overdosed, left Bobby, or what, but with Bobby having her necklace, so comes the need to fear the worse. But what needs to be noted here, for the sake of understanding why Del wanted to go to a funeral in the last episode, is that he didn’t allow her to cry. Well, more so he shamed Del out of the idea of crying. Also, he may not have had a funeral for her mother, and thus she never got that moment to say goodbye. She came home from her speech, wanting to talk about that and a cute boy, and was delivered the news without being properly consoled.
Hence why she blows up at the blood drive and punches holes in the wall until she found the cat. Perhaps the one thing in that whole household that could provide her some form of comfort. Since her dad didn’t want to and brothers sure as hell aren’t capable.
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Commentary
I feel the need to question whether Donna is actually dead or left Bobby and threw her necklace at him? Something just seems off about this. Granted, her getting into an accident makes sense, since she is a bit of a thief and will mix alcohol and pills. However, I can’t imagine her not saying goodbye to Del, leaving a note, or anything like that. While the boys she could maybe do that to, there was a connection to Del I doubt she’d burn because Bobby pissed her off.
Plus, there is the issue of not having a funeral. I get Bobby is cheap, but it wasn’t like he stuck with Donna strictly for the kids. While she got on his nerves, he did love her. So there is definitely something afoot here.
But, on another note, where is Natalie now? Del flips out one day and then did they stop being friends or did something else follow the blood drive blood bath?
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Highlights
- Ciara Bravo handled being the lead of this episode with excellence.
- While Abigail Spencer wasn’t necessarily given a whole lot of lines, she crafted a character whose energy, and loss of it, helps you understand why Del is how we met her. To go from someone who might be troubled, but is your biggest fan, to someone like Bobby? That would kill your spirit too. It would also make you wary of someone like Wayne for while he may not be bouncing all over the place like he is manic, you can see his commitment probably triggers memories of Del’s mom. Which is probably a bit frightening.
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