S01.E10: Only Women Bleed

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Sam has a tough day.

 

[Primetimer]

Sam faces battles large and small in a perfect finale to a perfect season.

View the full article

[pasdetrois]

So glad we are going to have a second season; I was worried.

I love this show, and this season finale episode was sublime. I love the show almost as much as my beloved (and cancelled) Getting On.

Tiny nit pick: the oldest daughter's constant wobbly vocals.

[EdnasEdibles]

I really enjoyed this show. It's got the same sort of "this is life" vibe as Louie yet isn't so self-important. Sometimes I felt like with Louie he wanted us to think he was the one sane person in a sea of crazy where I feel like here, she realizes she's also crazy. I liked her flaws. I liked that she lost her temper with her daughter for destroying her day. She very much feels like a real mother to me - she gets angry, she misses things, she's too lenient on some things . . . but it all works. 

And I also have a bottle of Vicodin from 2008 when my youngest was born so that seemed funny to me. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

20 minutes ago, EdnasEdibles said:

And I also have a bottle of Vicodin from 2008 when my youngest was born so that seemed funny to me. 

Not a good sign that her friend took the whole thing, though.  Probably better that she doesn't get involved driving the girls to soccer.

[Justin]

" (Prediction: I watch the season from start to finish at least three more times before it returns.)"

Seconded!

"It's got the same sort of "this is life" vibe as Louie yet isn't so self-important."

Agreed. Louis mostly felt like medicine to me most of the time. I really love his standup (mostly), so it seemed like I should love this thing that so many folks seemed to agree was this giant step forward for a whole genre of television. Insofar as it paved the way for this much better show, I guess they were right.

[TVForever]

I find Sam's quirkiness refreshing, but that thing she pulled with her mother at the beginning- that was just cruel. Her mother makes me crazy, but for Sam to have her so excited about a birthday weekend away , and then to pull the plug AS THEYRE PULLING OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY; it was just heartbreaking. Her mother was crushed.

[Ottis]

I like the realness of the show. I really disliked the closing song. Women bleed. Men die early. None of it is fair. 

[slasherboy]

I mostly like everything about this show (oldest daughter's voice notwithstanding) but I get kind of irritated at how much she babies the youngest.  I realize she's the youngest, but Sam just talks baby-talk-ish and paws all over her and I don't like it.  But that's just me.

One more thing, do people think this accurately reflects real life?  The way they all talk and act towards each other and such?  As for me, I don't know anybody like these people.  But I like them, and I love the show, so there's that.

How does she have such nice things?  Where does her money come from?

Edited November 12, 2016 by slasherboy
Blah, blah, blah

[peeayebee]

I've been watching this show from the beginning but until now I haven't visited this forum. I may next season.

Anyway, I absolutely love this show. I love Sam's world. I want to be her friend. Heck, I'd love to be Pamela's friend. 

One question about this ep: When Frankie told Sam about what the girls in the girls' restroom did, I didn't question it at the time, but in hindsight, do you think she made it up? Didn't she say that two girls were wearing silver jumpsuits with zippers from the neck to the crotch? That... seems highly unlikely. I suppose middle girls could flash their boobs at each other, but it was really OTT for one to put her finger up her p***y and wipe it on her friend. Anyway, it was mainly the description of the girls' clothes that makes me wonder if Frankie made it up as a cover -- She doesn't feel comfortable (yet) saying that she identifies as a boy and doesn't belong in the girls' restroom. 

[DNR]

I dig Pamela adlon so I'm glad there's season two . The actress who plays max takes me outta the show. Her voice , something just replace her please lol 

[butterbody]

What she did to her mom at the beginning took me out of the whole episode. I was so mad at her and I get it, it's real life, we're all flawed, but shit. I feel like I'm angry at this show every time I watch it. It just made no sense to hurt her that way. 

[cpcathy]

What she did to Phyl was too cruel, I'm not sure if we were supposed to nod our heads and agree with her choice, like we would have done the same thing.

[EdnasEdibles]

I agree that she was mean to her mom. Especially since her mom just seems like an average level of mom jerk. Like she's not overly abusive. My mom is kind of a jerk and having kids made me feel sympathy for her. I wouldn't agree to a weekend trip but if I did one, I wouldn't cancel.

[possibilities]

I actually like Phyl. She wants to and is capable of hoisting her own luggage, she gardens topless, she is kind of a ditz, but she's not a prude. The racism was very off-putting in the episode where she told that panty hose story, but that doesn't seem to be why Sam has such a hard time with her. I thought it was ridiculous to agree to the weekend when she can hardly get through an hour with the woman, but agree that when she cancelled it hurt a lot.

Sam's kids are brutal to Sam, so I guess it's a family legacy to have an irrational hatred for your parent.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 11/11/2016 at 8:23 PM, slasherboy said:

How does she have such nice things?  Where does her money come from?

She's been an actress since childhood who's worked steadily and had some success. Enough to buy her home (and I'm guessing her mother's place is a guest house on the property?) as well as pay support to her ex. Since they live in California, I assume he's entitled to half her earnings while they were together and she's probably paying them out over time. Should have had a pre-nup.

Edited November 13, 2016 by ItCouldBeWorse

[luna1122]

I'm guessing this is not-so-loosely based on Adlon's real life, and I imagine in her real life, she has some pretty nice things. She's worked steadily since she was a kid, and her family was in show biz and had some money as well. I think the show is probably fairly reflective of her real life, with the British mom and three daughters and nice but not palatial house.

I love Sam, and find her instantly relatable, and kids being brutal to their parents is fairly typical, but man---and I did not come from a home that ever featured corporal punishment--I woulda gotten a rap in the mouth if I'd ever talked to my parents the way her kids talk to her. Is that real? I don't have kids, and this show makes me happy every second that I do not.

[yourmomiseasy]

I get so annoyed by the kids that it takes me out of the show.  I especially cannot stand that the oldest always sounds like she's on the verge of tears.  This episode featured the shrieking kids early on made it hard for me to get to the pay off at the end.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

99% of the time, I feel bad for Sam when she has to deal with her mom who is a lot to handle. But this time I felt really bad for Phyllis. She was so excited about going to Santa Barbara with her daughter and then Sam completely flaked on her at the last second. An important part of life is knowing what your limits are and planning accordingly. If you know you can't handle being with your mom for an hour, don't promise to take her on an overnight trip for her birthday AND THEN realize she will drive you nuts and cancel while you're sitting in the car in the driveway.

Sorry, Frankie, even if you did tell your mom "weeks ago" that you need a dress from the 1940s, you shouldn't wait until the morning that you need it to see if she actually got you a dress.

Who was sitting in the back seat of the car next to Max in the final scene? Did she and her lame boyfriend get back together? Even if they did, why is going on a family trip with them? It seemed weird for him to be included in that scene with everyone singing along in the car.

I felt for Sam at the end because it's not that she's transphobic or in denial but that she accepted Frankie's initial explanation at face value. All kids fib about stuff but Sam trusts her kids to tell her the truth about important stuff, so when Frankie told her that story (and without any prodding) Sam just assumed that it was true. Max can be a bit of a pill, but I'm glad that she finally got through to her mom about Frankie.

As for how Sam has such nice things, there are a lot of possible explanations. We know that she was a child actor and there are laws about how much money has to be put into a trust until the child actor turns 18 (which is mostly to prevent parents from spending all their kids' money). If she shows she was on were syndicated, she could have been making money from that long after the shows stopped airing. I remember Mila Kunis mentioned in an interview once that thanks to the residuals from That 70s Show and Family Guy (both of which are syndicated), she could retire and never work again and she would be totally fine. If she invested all that money when she turned 18, it's totally possible that she had enough to buy the house and then add the artwork over time. She mentioned 50th birthday parties and we know that Max is 15, which means Sam had her when she was in her early to mid 30s, so she had a good decade to buy a house, furnish it, and get art before she and her ex had kids. Plus if she bought that house 20-30 years ago, it would have cost A LOT less. Real estate in California has skyrocketed exponentially since the 80s/90s.

Voiceover work can provide a decent income too (I know one voice actor who was able to quit their job and do voiceovers full time). Like regular commercial acting, if you can book national ads, it can pay a lot.

We know her dad isn't around but I don't recall if they ever had an explanation. If he died then it's possible he left half of his estate to her and half to Phyllis. Maybe a relative died and left Sam a bunch of furniture. There are a lot of possibilities as to how she has that house and such nice stuff. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I've seen a lot of other shows where the characters' jobs and their living situations seem way more unbelievable.

[Jeanne222]

Wait is this show starting up again?