Caemeron Crain
The following recap contains spoilers for Somebody Somewhere S2E3, “SLS” (written by Rachel Axler and directed by Robert Cohen)
Somebody Somewhere S2E3 sees Sam (Bridget Everett) starting/resuming her voice lessons with Darlene (Barbara E. Robertson), and we further learn that the song Susan (Jennifer Mudge) wants her to sing at the wedding is Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” Sam’s worried that her voice is too heavy for classical music, and seems to think Darlene told her that when she was a teenager, but (by now at least) Darlene is about as supportive as you could imagine anyone being. Of course it takes work—everything worth doing does—but she’s there to help.
It’s maybe worth noting that “Ave Maria” is a prayer to the Mother Mary, and Sam’s mother is named Mary Jo, whether this is an intentional connection or not. Certainly questions of faith loom large in “SLS”—Joel’s (Jeff Hiller) faith in God is explicitly mentioned, of course, but we might also think about Sam’s faith in herself, and whether she and Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison) have faith in the system charged with the care of their mother.
When they go to visit her in S2E3, they find that MJ’s been involved in an incident (or two, depending on how you count things), but beyond that an ongoing pattern of behavior means she can’t stay in Independence Village unless her medication is increased, and she’ll have to be admitted to a hospital in Wichita to make that happen.
Sam and Tricia don’t even see Mary Jo (Jane Brody) in “SLS” because she’s still got them on her “no fly” list, so neither do we, and indeed there hasn’t been much of MJ to this point in Somebody Somewhere Season 2. But if we remember the events of Season 1, we know all too well that she has mental health issues. We’re merely left to fill in the gap of what happened in the months between seasons.
Thankfully, Sam has a bottle of hot chardonnay in her car, giving us perhaps my favorite scene in the episode as Tricia half-hides as she takes slugs in the parking lot of the assisted living complex. It’s really the nurse who spots them and tells them to have a good morning that does it. Somebody Somewhere is full of these little moments of realistic levity that stand in contrast to the contrivances of network sitcoms. It’s beautiful.
As for Joel, he’s struggling to write words for Fred (Murray Hill) and Susan’s wedding because he feels like he’s on the outs with God since the events of Season 1 that led to him leaving the church. He lied, and that’s a sin, but also to him a wedding is a holy ceremony. How can he stand before God and officiate the service when he still stands in separation from Him?
Fred is a delight as ever in responding to this query. It’s not about God, Joel. Though, I might argue that it is, in the same sense that Joel exclaimed, “This is church!” towards the end of Season 1, and to the extent that their choir practice did indeed provide a kind of ekkelsia for misfits and outsiders. I think there’s every chance that Joel rediscovers his faith, and comes back to God in his own way, by the end of Season 2, precisely through his role in Fred’s wedding.
In the meantime, he’s making friends with Brad (Tim Bagley)—the titular SLS—as he waits for Sam on the porch during her voice lessons. He notes Brad’s Bethany Lutheran Church tote, they talk about how Brad teaches eighth grade Social Studies (which he thinks is fun), and Joel maybe has a boner that Sam notes as they leave the property. I’m looking forward to seeing this relationship develop.
Tricia has apparently started a business called Trish Upon a Star, which is indeed adorable, and wants to provide the décor for Fred and Susan’s wedding. Since Susan seems to like what she’s offering and Fred says it’s up to Susan, it looks like that will happen.
Sam’s worry about the arrangement causing tension between her and Tricia doesn’t seem entirely off-base, but the flare up between them in S2E3 can probably be fairly assessed to be at least partially Sam’s fault. She doesn’t take marriage, or love, seriously enough for Tricia’s tastes, and we get more insight into this as the episode comes to a close.
During her breathing exercises, Darlene told Sam to remember the feeling she’d achieved. It’s like the first time you fell in love. I thought maybe Sam teared up in that moment because of Holly in some way—and maybe that’s true—but as she tells Joel on their nature walk, she doesn’t know what that feels like.
Sam’s never been in love. She puts up a brusque front, but of course at some level it’s a coping mechanism. At some level it’s a wall she’s built to protect her sensitive soul. She’d rather judge and laugh at those who pursue love and fail than take the risk herself.
But there’s great empathy in how Somebody Somewhere presents this. We don’t exit “SLS” hoping that Sam manages to “find the right guy” or anything like that, as if there might be some great change in who she is, if only she finds herself in the right circumstances.
Rather it’s in her friendship with Joel that we can see her shell crack just a little bit, and indeed one could argue that this is the overarching story of Somebody Somewhere—not the shallow salvation of a rom-com, but the slow and patient work of accepting who you are and carving out a place for yourself in this crazy world.
