Take Three: Abby’s

Abby’s: Season 1, Episode 3 “Free Alcohol Day” (B)

This show never promised sophistication, and this episode felt particularly like a sitcom installment, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Fred getting dressed up to enjoy what he considers the best day was always going to end in disappointment of some sort since all the hype of previous Free Alcohol Days had to set the bar way too high. Dani arrived expecting positive reviews, something she did not get, which helped to create the amusing scenario of Abby forcing her top customers to take shots of the vile mixture in order to pry precious secrets about her personal life out of her. Leave it to Abby to act so casually around a woman that she had dated for a decent period of time and then expect that no one else was going to notice when she was quietly flirtatious. Beth took Abby’s reclusiveness the hardest, and I like that she took to investigative means to pull the truth out of her, leading to an unexpectedly sentimental proclamation about the nature of their relationship and the genesis of the bar from Abby. Bill never really manages to say the right thing, and of course he would explode with awkwardness as soon as Abby announced that she was bisexual. His response to Dani being a lesbian was even worse, and he did himself no favors by continuing to dig his own grave and try to explain it away after his initial reaction. If nothing else, he’s consistent in his inability to have normal interactions with people.