Round Two: American Woman

American Woman: Season 1, Episode 2 “Changes and the New Normal” (B-)

I was up for giving this show a second chance, but I think that’s enough. The news that there was a warrant out for Steve’s arrest at the end of the first episode was downplayed considerably in this hour, with his participation in a pyramid scheme boiled down to Bonnie being close to losing the house and Steve having a court date coming up. It’s true that accepting money from Kathleen isn’t a great long-term plan, but you’d think that Bonnie might be okay with it to make sure that she doesn’t lose the house. There was plenty of institutional chauvinism on display in this episode, with Diana told that she shouldn’t get the promotion over her dim-witted male coworker because, as a “single gal,” she doesn’t have to support her family. Greg is doing his best to keep his sexual orientation under wraps, getting turned on by a man during an audition and rushing in to have sex with Kathleen while he’s fired up. Bonnie demonstrated her resilience and creativity by selling herself as an asset because of her ability to bribe her friends into not shopping elsewhere, counteracting her complete lack of experience with anything aside from being a “transportation coordinator” in regards to getting her kids to school. Bonnie working up the courage to wait on someone she knew on her first day on the job showed that she’s acclimating, and she’s going to do it with sass too. I’m sure there will be more drama to come, but I’m happy to part ways with this show at this point.