What I’m Watching: Shrill

Shrill: Season 2, Episode 4 “Freak” (B+)

I like that this episode didn’t spend too much time focusing on Annie coming back to work, but instead casually introduced Calendar Cody as an overzealous but relatively polite new coworker who may prove an obstacle to Annie’s return to her status as one of the publication’s best writers. Amadi is having a tough time being in charge of all the things that Gabe doesn’t want to have to deal with, like employees getting Botox paid for or paternity leave for donating sperm to their siblings. Annie’s latest assignment was far from glamorous, but I like that she seemed to find a comfort in the way that the nude cyclists described their ritual and then appeared at the end of the episode when she really wasn’t doing well. Despite, as Fran put it, looking like a park ranger in a porno for his first time meeting Annie’s mom, Ryan actually did do a pretty good job at dinner. Unfortunately, Vera subtly and unsubtly tried to make food decisions on behalf of the table that got Annie very upset, with Bill compelled to speak to his wife after the meal about her behavior. Ryan didn’t seem to notice the tension at all, and his discussion of sex at the moment hit Annie the wrong way. For the second time this season, we got to experience a powerful musical scene involving Fran, this time with her belting out “Shallow” with a whole lot of passion, which also managed to get thinking about the values in her life.