What I’m Watching: Shrill

Shrill: Season 2, Episode 6 “WAHAM” (B+)

A lot of this show is about Annie reacting to the way that people around her say things, often about her, that just don’t make any sense or at the very least show a lack of human decency, compassion, or intelligence. It’s actually been a bit since, aside from her mom, someone has talked about her weight in front of her without realizing that she probably wouldn’t want to be a topic of conversation like that. Vanessa Bayer’s celebrity guru was a very effective representation of meaningless calls to action, and she completely dodged all of Annie’s very legitimate questions about what she did by honing in on the way Annie says the word “fat.” Being given first a small and then a medium T-shirt that she was expected to wear was rude, and the lack of awareness about that insensitivity was completely lost on the woman doing it. Much of what she saw at the expo was ridiculous, like the leg makeup and the extremely expensive vibrators, but at least her friends got to enjoy the prizes that she picked up and brought home for them. She scored a major win back at work when Gabe encouraged her to write about her own abortion, even if he didn’t want to celebrate on too friendly a level, and maybe that will be something could she can focus on now after Ryan took her recommendation to pursue the “hot option” of them both having jobs. Working at the same place isn’t going to be easy, especially since Ryan is likely going to prove to be more popular and well-liked.