Single Drunk Female Review: Sober for the D and V (Season 1 Episode 5)

Single Drunk Female Season 1 Episode 5, “Sober for the D and V” is the Freeform comedy series at its best so far.

Single Drunk Female Season 1 Episode 4 focused on Sam’s relationship with Britt, and Season 1 Episode 3 on hers with Felicia. While it serves to give us context on their past, this show really shines when Sam gets to interact a little bit with everyone.

When we open on Sam in Single Drunk Female Season 1 Episode 5, she is 180 days sober and desperately needs to get laid. If you remember back to Season 1 Episode 4, Sam was only 62 days sober. So we’ve skipped ahead quite a bit in her journey.

That’s probably my biggest pet peeve with this show. I feel like we are missing a ton of Sam’s growth by skipping ahead so far between episodes. And, I’m really not sure how these time jumps are going to help with the longevity of this series.

At this point, it almost seems like it’s a given that Sam is going to slip on the way to her 365-day sobriety goal. I’m not sure how her story can go on for more than ten episodes if she doesn’t.

It’s a huge milestone for her nonetheless, and her AA group celebrates the six-month mark with a “Happy Birthday, Dan” from the bakery. If there’s one thing that’s evident, even with the time jumps, it’s that Sam has learned to be much more open with her sponsor Olivia.

And maybe a little too open? She has no problem telling the older woman about her reawakened libido. I do give kudos to Single Drunk Female for covering all sides of the sober journey, and sex drive is one of those aspects that aren’t always talked about in sober stories.

To help her meet new people, Olivia invites Sam to her legendary sober dance party. Sounds lame, but when you think about it, it’s just a less structured Zumba class with good music.

Determined to solve her problem on her own, Sam takes another stab at flirting with James. 

I do think Sofia Black D’Elia and Garrick Bernard have great on-screen chemistry. Even though Sam is awkwardly pursuing him, and even though James is very protective of her sobriety, there is a subtle yearning between their two characters. I’m happy that Sam is exploring her own sober sexuality, but I can’t help but root for the slow burn with James as well.

With that rejection, we end up where every 20-something woman at a romantic dead-end ends up. With her friend(s) swiping for her on the apps.

Besides their rocky reconnection in Single Drunk Female Season 1 Episode 3, I’ve been obsessed with the way Sam and Felicia’s friendship is written. You can just tell when a shows’ writers understand modern female friendships, and this is a prime example of that.

From swiping for Sam on Tinder to helping her take new photos for her profile, Felicia is 100% the kind of girlfriend any gal could want.

Felicia finds Sam a date, gets her ready to go on the date, and then picks up her friend from said date when things go downhill. A+ bestie.

Sam’s unofficial operation “get laid” is a bust once her date burps up a shot of vodka in her face while they’re making out on his couch. It’s gross, but it really does leave you wondering about all the little triggers there are out there in the world.

With no other plans, they head to Olivia’s sober dance party.

Oliva and Stefani are continuously the best part of this series. The duo has an impeccable sense for line delivery, making their jokes even funnier than they probably are on paper. Josh, Boston’s biggest, most valuable cat is a welcome addition to their little funny family unit.

“I don’t joke about serious stuff like parties.”

While Single Drunk Female obviously follows the sobriety experience, and the situations like the sober dance party are created specifically for people on that journey (or for underage kids), I thought it was a nice way to show that being sober doesn’t necessarily mean having less fun.

It’s also a really lovely way to show how Sam’s circle of support adjusts to her new lifestyle. Felicia, again being a true friend, has just as much fun at the party as any of the actual sober people.

It’s at this sober party where Sam’s story gets a little juicier. Her love life hasn’t been the focus of Single Drunk Female by any means (even though her relationship status is in the show’s title) so we haven’t really gotten a read on her sexuality.

It seems like she’s pretty fluid. After bumping into another woman, Chloe, and this sober party, and an awkward exchange where she compares themselves to siblings since they both have Olivia as their sponsor.

If Sam and Chloe do end up becoming a thing, I’ll give the new girl the benefit of the doubt since she doesn’t know Sam is a baby sober and isn’t as protective of her as James is. It is an interesting new layer to her character, and if she is queer (and not just horny) it’ll be interesting to explore her relationships moving forward.

Especially with her chemistry with James in the background. I hope that Single Drunk Female doesn’t skip too far ahead into the future with the next few episodes, because I would like to see how Sam reacts to this new dynamic added on top of her sober journey.

With so much hesitance coming from James’s part, and with some initial caution from Olivia this will likely be a new challenge for Sam to face. With Chloe also being sober, I’m curious to see how her opinion on sexuality differs from the people that have been in Sam’s circle for the past six months.

As a B-plot in Single Drunk Female Season 1 Episode 5, I did get one of my wishlist items from Season 1 Episode 3 answered. Carol (Sam’s Mom) runs into Britt (Sam’s ex-bff) and they chat for a few minutes. It’s no secret that Carol has been on my shit-list for a few episodes, and this one is no different.

It was nice to see that her haughty attitude isn’t just towards her daughter, but also extends to her daughter’s friends as well. Britt does get a nice subtle jab in at the end of the episode though, so I hope to see more of that dynamic in future episodes, especially knowing how much Britt helped out with Sam’s father before his passing.

Stray Thoughts:

• Carol is the queen of rose-tinted insults.
• The entire Felicia/Sam Tinder pic update scene was gold. “Pretend like you’re reading!” “I could actually read, I know how to read.” – priceless!
• Felicia needs to give a crash course on the hidden sexual connotation of coffee drinks.
• Stefani and her thinly veiled disapproval of Olvia’s antics gets funnier episode by episode. DOn’t jump on the wooden floors!
• Do I sense some cracks forming in Joel and Britt’s relationship? This can’t turn out well for our girl Sam.
• Sam’s fashion choices range from chic twentysomething to Adam Sandler and there’s no in-between.
• I am obsessed with Josh the cat. More of him, please.

 

What did you think of this episode of Single Drunk Female? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Single Drunk Female airs Thursdays at 10:30 pm ET/9:30 CT on Freeform.

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