What I’m Watching: The First Lady

The First Lady: Season 1, Episode 2 “Voices Carry” (B+)

This show’s selection of its three protagonists was surely intentional, and so while we’re not likely to get many explicit references to more than one at the same time, like a 90-year-old Betty Ford’s letter to Michelle Obama on the occasion of her inauguration, there are still going to be connective threads tying them together. In this case, the focus seems to be on visibility and independence, and the idea in all three eras that the first lady is a job, and, as FDR put it to Eleanor when she asked, no one else was getting two appointments. Eleanor’s struggle seems to be the most uphill, though at least people aren’t paying attention to her in the same way that Betty and Michelle are under a microscope and being told constantly to behave differently. I’m glad to see some familiar faces in all three timelines, including Lily Rabe as Hick, who seems to understand and see Eleanor in a way no one else does, Judy Greer as Nancy Howe, who was able to push Betty to be heard and do what she felt was right, and Donna Lynne Champlin as Mel Winter, one of the few people who got that Michelle needed to do her own thing. I’m also always happy to see Kate Mulgrew, and it seems like Susan is here to stay and to support Michelle in carrying herself the way she wants. Donald Rumsfeld’s efforts to keep Betty out of the spotlight have failed miserably, and she knows exactly when to cite her husband’s support for something as a key to making it happen.