Dietland Review: Bedwomb (Season 1 Episode 10)

On the Dietland finale, Season 1 Episode 10, “Bedwomb,” things lead up to a dramatic conclusion, but leaves us with too many loose ends.

There is an advantage to leaving things open-ended on a finale. It sets the next season up nicely with a whole slew of meaty storylines to explore. That is if it gets picked up. If it doesn’t viewers are going to feel left hanging—cliff-hanging, if you will—indefinitely.

That uncertainty laces the episode with an uneasy feeling as each plot reaches the end of the hour in a state of incompleteness. Some developments come to fruition in a satisfying manner, but too many do not, and that makes this finale a bit unbalanced. This basically sums up my review of the season as a whole, actually.

The things that work, work really well.

The personal stories of the founding women of Jennifer bring a nice cohesion to its confusing storyline. It is so well acted and written that it makes me a little disappointed that they waited until Episode 10 to give it to us. Sofia (Tara Summers) and Soledad (Selenis Leyva) give undeniable validity to the mission of Jennifer.

This moment is especially poignant, not just because the stories are so emotional and moving, but because it focuses Jennifer’s objective whereas it has been muddled and chaotic throughout the season. It might’ve been nice to hear these stories and meet these characters earlier. However, doing it this way almost poetically represents the internal incoherence within the group itself.

Their heartbreaking stories affect Plum (Joy Nash). She is all in…until she’s not. I don’t buy her cop out at the end. Sure, she changes her mind after a little recap montage sequence of her learning about herself, and runs after the car, but this revelation moment is somewhat hackneyed.

She has been learning about herself all season. I think she has a pretty good idea of who she is before this moment. And, also, listening to the horrors these women have gone through only to back out once the situation escalates isn’t authentic to the character.

There is no way that Plum is naive enough to think that being a part of Jennifer is just games of Truth or Dare and sleepovers and working on blog entries on behalf of the movement. Sofia questions her dedication.

Sofia: Can you run for thirty minutes without stopping?
Plum: What?
Sofia: That’s not even half of what I demand of the others. Can you?
Plum: It depends.
Sofia: Well, if we get into trouble and you can’t keep up, I’ve already told Soledad I will shoot you.

Cut to them running for, like, one minute and Plum gives up. This is unfair to both characters. And, ultimately, Sofia pays the price with her life. Not that it is directly the fault of Plum and her inability to keep up, but the progression of these moments do not flow well.

What does flow well is Verena’s plotline. Verena (Robin Weigert) drives me absolutely crazy. I am not a fan of this character, but I like her as a bad guy, which is kind of how I’ve seen her this whole time.

Verena going to the FBI makes total sense. It makes sense to me because she is that type of person, a self-righteous tattle-tale, and it also makes sense to her. She believes she is right…all the time so, of course, this is a justified plan of action.

Verena: I’m a feminist and a pacifist. It’s taken me years to establish my…community.

I am hanging on this line thinking she is going to say “brand” instead of “community.” It is so delightfully evil of her to turn on these women, you know, since she’s such a feminist. Verena walking down the street so self-satisfied intercut with Julia (Tamara Tunie) and her sisters getting arrested is such a bad ass villain moment.

I think this feeling is meant to be had with Kitty’s scenes, but those fall flat. The character of Kitty (Julianna Margulies) has been steadily fizzling out. She started out strong, but ends with not much of a bang even though her rise to the top is impressive.

This is not at the hand of Margulies’ acting abilities. In fact, I think she does a far better job than the material allows. Kitty is written as a caricature, and that doesn’t fit with the very serious nature of the topics the show addresses.

The most disappointing loose end has to be the fate of Leeta (Erin Darke). I cannot believe they don’t let her and Plum reunite. The writers put themselves at a real disadvantage here. What a powerful ending the finale could have with these two back together.

There have been many missteps like this during the season, but this is the most egregious.

All in all, there are wonderful moments—great dialogue, solid performances—but they don’t come together to make a satisfying whole.

What did you think of the Season 1 finale of Dietland? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Dietland airs Mondays at 9/8c on AMC.

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