When I first read that there was a series about a woman struggling with sobriety, I wondered how it would be a comedy. Alcoholism is not a laughing matter, after all. But in reality, what Freeform’s new show, Single Drunk Female, manages to do is show through absurdity the difficulties of getting and staying sober.
The story starts with Samantha having an absolutely total meltdown, like going-viral to the point it might be on the news, meltdown. She’s an alcoholic who slid down the road from functional to very much non-functional. That results in her getting fired and being sentenced to community service but also getting sober, and leaving NYC for her near-Boston family home. With her mom.
Absolutely nothing is as easy as anyone might want. Samantha’s mother (played by the brilliant Ally Sheedy) is equal parts infuriating and supportive, kinda. Everyone who isn’t an alcoholic is a casual (or not in some cases) enabler of the worst part of Samantha, while also pushing her to be the best she can. Kinda.
That ‘kinda’ is the the subtitle of the whole series. Everyone’s choices are kinda good and kinda bad. They all face repercussions, and no one is as perfect as they seem. Over the course of the season, Samantha is given multiple chances to do better, be better in more than just being sober, and her success varies. Every character has the same kind of mess in their life, sober or not, and they’re all coping.
Finding out who she is without the alcohol is a journey, and it works. Kinda. Success is a road, after all.
Screener Review On Single Drunk Female
Surprisingly self-aware and cognizant of the difficult road ahead.
