Mrs. America Review: Bella (Season 1 Episode 7)
Mrs. America Season 1 Episode 7, “Bella,” shows the cutthroat competition between the two sides in the lead-up to the first ever government-funded National Women’s Conference headed by Bella Abzug.
Bella (Margo Martindale) must walk the fine bi-partisan line between being radical and appealing to the middle. Like on Mrs. America Season 1 Episode 7, “Jill,” she is put in the position to make concessions and tough choices.
She misses being considered a radical within the feminist movement but also tells Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne) that she takes the easy route by “preaching to the choir.” She welcomes a showdown with Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett) but is willing to compromise on big issues such as gay rights.
Bella understands politics. “I know what I can get done and what I can’t.” The disruptor side of her knows that things happen when the status quo is shaken up not placated. The strategy is complicated and focusing on Bella on this episode does well to show these difficulties.
One of the more effective and cohesive through lines that demonstrates this is Bella waffling on putting gay rights on the Conference agenda. We see Midge Costanza (Annie Parisse) and Jean O’Leary (Anna Douglas) fight for its inclusion and how it is a personal issue for them as well.
Bella: I think it’s unwise to keep the gay rights resolution on the agenda.
Jean: You can’t do that. It was approved in 30 states.
Bella: Believe me, this is the hardest part of my job.
Thankfully, in the end, she includes it, listening to the lesbian contingent as well as the radical side of herself.
It might not have been an issue at all if the anti-ERA movement hadn’t started playing dirty.
They strategize an impressive and aggressive counterattack on the women’s liberation movement’s push ahead of the convention. They rig the system by bussing in women from out of state to get conservative delegates elected and even burgle the South Carolina office, stealing the pro-ERA training manual.
Phyllis turns a blind eye (well, she is already temporarily blind in one eye from getting pied in the face), saying she doesn’t want to know about it. “The Eagle Forum is law-abiding organization.” Although, she is perfectly fine with this loophole of the theft being performed under the auspices of the Citizens Review Committee.
Even more nefarious, though, is how she does not denounce the KKK outright, but instead makes a shady arrangement with Lottie Beth Hobbs (Cindy Drummond) to allow the Klan access to the Conference in a way that doesn’t associate with them directly.
Lottie: You need to understand that to love completely requires learning to hate properly.
At the beginning of the episode, Phyllis is giving a speech and Alice, as a plant, asks her a question designed to allow Phyllis to focus her message. She starts blasting Jimmy Carter and his administration and the camera does a slow push-in while foreboding music swells.
It shows us that the claws are really going to come out now.
This Phyllis as well as the galvanized Phyllis at the end are her at her heights on this episode. Everything in between is Phyllis struggling with setback after setback.
She begins to feel the heat—figuratively and literally.
She gets a pie in the face after this speech and it’s downhill from there: hot flashes, night sweats, a rebellious daughter that shares her name, and losing out on being a delegate at the Conference along with her colleagues.
Like Bella, Phyllis is under a lot of pressure to succeed in Houston. Bella is trying to stick with her principles and make the right choices, but Phyllis is willing to fight much dirtier for her cause.
Mrs. America Season 1 Episode 7, “Bella,” creates a dramatic tension leading up to the convention with this pre-battle build-up even though we know history’s true (unfortunate) outcome.
Phyllis: Now if we pull this off, Houston will be the death knell of the women’s liberation movement. Let’s blow it up.
There is a quick push-in to a close-up of Phyllis before she says to “blow it up” to really accentuate her ruthlessness. They’re framing her as the villain that she is, the Wicked Witch of the Midwest.
And not only that, the feminists are painted as the underdogs with their own destructive infighting. We know the ending of this war, but the personal stories are worth watching and these issues are still worth fighting for.
What did you think of this episode of Mrs. America? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Mrs. America airs Wednesdays on FX on Hulu.
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Erin Allen
Erin is a former script supervisor for film and television. She's an avid fan of middle aged actresses, dark dramas, and irreverent comedies. She loves to read actual books and X-Files fan fiction. Her other passions include pointing out feminist issues, shipping Mulder and Scully, and collecting pop culture mugs.