What I’m Watching: SMILF

SMILF: Season 2, Episode 5 “Single Mom in Love Forever” (B)

So this episode didn’t provide the forward narrative direction I had asked for, but it was an engaging and very watchable half-hour that filled in some important gaps from the past related to Larry’s birth and the separation of Bridgette and Rafi as a couple. The opening with everyone, both those in Bridgette’s life and not, telling her why she couldn’t be a single parent helped to explain why they stayed together as long as they did, even though she was obviously upset at him for kissing another woman. Ally Sheedy’s Fiona definitely sought to mitigate that by trying to relax Bridgette and have her let it go, a notion that Bridgette obviously didn’t love because it seemed to indicate her taking some responsibility for it. Rafi calling her an ice queen and a frozen tundra didn’t help matters much, nor did his suggestion of Adolfo as a name for the baby, and it took until right after Larry’s birth for her to decide that she really couldn’t marry him. The woman who would later become known as Tutu was very insistent on being there for the birth even if Bridgette adamantly didn’t want her to be, and after she peed, pooped, and threw up, it turned out to be great that she was there because that was all Bridgette wanted in that moment. I’m not sure why Stormy Daniels needed to have a cameo as Dana, but it didn’t detract from the episode, and I wouldn’t have known who she was if I hadn’t seen her named listed as a guest star. This episode wasn’t definitive enough to inspire me to commit to finishing out the season, but it did earn my attention for at least another episode.