Realizing it’s St. Patrick’s Day, Sam calls Olivia for advice. Her sponsor tells her not to be alone and to get some support. So, Sam asks Felicia if she and her son want to hang out and make cookies. Unfortunately, Felicia has plans to party with other friends. Even Carol and Bob have plans to see a traditional Irish band play. They leave Sam alone at the house. Sam tries to fill the time by baking, but that doesn’t take up much of her day. So, she distracts herself with social media and finds that Brit is trying on wedding dresses. She texts her former friend to give her opinion on the dress she’s wearing. It turns out that Brit appreciates the input, and she asks Sam if she can come help. Sam ends up giving her meaningful advice and encouraging Brit to wear whatever she wants for her big day. At the end of the dress appointment, Sam offers to help her like this again in the future. Brit thanks her, but implies that she won’t take her up on that offer, and they depart on awkward terms. After Carol’s and Bob’s date, they return to the house. They bring up sex, and Carol informs Bob that it’s been a while for her. He tells her he wants to make her comfortable and will wait for as long as she needs. While all this is happening, James runs into Mindy at the supermarket. He has to get his keys from his friends. The problem is that they’re asking him to meet them at a bar. Fortunately, Mindy offers to go with him as support. James struggles with the idea of maintaining his sobriety in front of these friends. Mindy encourages him with a video game analogy that helped her when she was transitioning and when she was recovering from alcohol addiction. She tells him to treat every day that he’s trying to stay sober like a video game quest. He takes the advice to heart. They go to the bar and get his keys without a hitch. The episode ends with Mindy and James running into Sam at a café. They all toast each other for staying sober on St. Patrick’s Day.
The Episode Review
Very little happens in this episode other than a few little-explored character development subplots. The small moments of connection between Sam and Brit, Carol and Bob, and James and Mindy were sweet, but I would have liked more substance from this episode overall. If future episodes are going to focus on Sam simply trying to stay sober as the main plot, Single Drunk Female is going to lose my interest. As much as I love the premise of this show, I’m beginning to wonder if it has enough significant material to fall back on. I’m still rooting for Sam. By the end of the season, I hope we get to see her with that 1-year sobriety chip. But I have a feeling something is going to keep that from happening.
