Pivoting Review: Fans Only (Season 1 Episode 9)
It’s all about sex on Pivoting Season 1 Episode 9, “Fans Only.” When the ladies learn that people they know are creating videos for an adult website, they explore new opportunities themselves. This time, your mind totally should be in the gutter.
This is still a show airing before 10 PM on network television, so we don’t get any raunchier than foot fetishes and off-screen sex between eagerly consenting spouses. But all of these things are discussed openly, without coding or metaphors, and especially without a hint of embarrassment.
It’s not that Pivoting is going places other shows aren’t. Sex is everywhere on TV (even in earlier timeslots). Yet there’s still a lingering taboo about female characters chatting about that very subject that the show is all too happy to buck.
It’s a much better method of bringing in edge than the whole humorous drug deal of the previous episode. Even those parts that raise eyebrows do so in a way that feels in line with these characters and their personalities.
It fits for Henry to be attracted by seeing a more maternal side of wife. It fits even more that she, in turn, is turned on by him playing up a mean side at work. Might we wonder just how these two found each other? Maybe, but by this point I’ve stopped questioning it.
In all seriousness, these two are pulling off the “opposites attract” trope. Many couples that flip typical gender roles let that dynamic override the chemistry between the characters. For Henry and Amy, it’s just who they are, and we can accept it as easily as they do.
It’s not perfect: Henry is probably a little too accepting of some of Amy’s character flaws and sometimes she gripes about him a touch to much for someone who clearly does actually love him. We still believe in that love in the end, every time.
Sarah has a slightly more direct action to learning of a potential secondary income source and decides to get in on her own side game—below the ankle action only. We can add foot fetishes of men online to the list of things she’s still a bit naïve about.
To be fair, she does have a reasonable degree of success, at least before Jodie and her poor unsightly feet get involved. Then it turns out one of her viewers is considerably underage and both she and we are done for the time being.
There is a nice little moment between Sarah and Jodie here; one of the few that would pass in a more family-friendly setting. Jodie does get put down as being “uncool” a lot, but the writing is genuine in assuring us she may be the best friend of them all.
Where does all this leave the episode overall? Admittedly, with so much emphasis on the “adult” part of adult humor, the humor itself is sometimes hit or miss. There are still enough laugh-out-loud lines to make the half-hour enjoyable.
This would also be an ideal episode to throw Jodie’s affair in the open. Instead, it only gets a couple moments and a brief scene with Matt in a minivan. For better or worse, though, I doubt that can last—not when the next episode is also the season finale.
What did you think of this episode of Pivoting? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Pivoting airs Thursdays at 9:30/8:30c on Fox.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.