The First Lady Review: See Saw (Season 1 Episode 5)

More trials, tribulations, wins, and losses as Eleanor, Betty, and Michelle conduct the office of the First Lady on their terms. 

There’s, thankfully, a deeper common thread among the three women on The First Lady Season 1 Episode 5, “See Saw,” than there has been since the first episode. It’s still clunky with illogical and uninspired transitions and very little cinematic cohesiveness.

However, the performances continue to awe and captivate, but the disappointment at missed opportunities and squandered potential is too difficult to ignore.

Every time there is a transition between the three different Ladies’ stories, I feel a little cheated. I’m not ready to move on quite yet and get absorbed in another story that I will get invested in and, again, come up short in the dividends.

It’s really rather frustrating. I keep holding out for the filmmaking and writing to catch up to the raw, bold star power that is Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson. But unlike these acting goddesses, the storytelling is coming across as playing it safe; tame, mediocre.

I’m sorry, but “mediocre” should never be applied to these women, these masters of their craft, so it’s just unacceptable to give them conventional material with which to work. Especially, when both the real women and the actors portraying them are so completely unconventional.

That’s kinda the concept of the series, is it not?

I feel, once again, that it comes down to high expectations placed on the series as a whole. The three stories explored on this episode are interesting and I don’t wish any of them to have to make sacrifices so the show can fit in too much plot in too little time, spread too thin across the trio of titular subjects. 

This episode, though, is an improvement. 

There are more intimate scenes between Eleanor and Hick (Lily Rabe). Although, I confess, I’m impatiently awaiting the really intimate scenes, if you catch my drift, which should be in the next episode per the teaser. 

Their connection is electric and it’s soft. I want a whole series on just these two. 

Anderson embodies the great legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt. She gives off a comforting presence, and I’m not just saying that because I am a Gillian stan first and a human second …well, maybe partly.

I think it’s safe to say that her performance is objectively phenomenal. 

Betty’s breast cancer arc seems stuffed into and rushed to accommodate its measly third of an hour allotment. But, wow, does Pfeiffer absolutely eat it all up. Her performance here is also electric and soft. Betty is fierce, she’s scared, she’s vulnerable—she’s human.

Pfieffer’s scenes with Dakota Fanning as Susan Ford are particularly endearing. Also, there is a commendable amount of screen time for the fantastic Judy Greer.

And, in the Michelle timeline, we get some nice scenes with Davis and Kate Mulgrew as Susan Sher. I love how Davis plays Michelle’s irritation at condescending men and mansplaining. Michelle’s relationship with her husband is presented as loving and strong—Davis and O-T Fagbenle cultivate that stability. 

Likewise, Pfeiffer allows Betty to show strength in her marriage with Gerry (Aaron Eckhart), but not lose the strength in herself. It’s an odd juxtaposition to start this episode’s Betty story with her disappointment in her husband and president for pardoning Nixon and then to transition to the breast cancer arc. 

On Eleanor’s portion of the episode, her husband, President Roosevelt (Keifer Sutherland), is absent, which, whether intentional or not, makes for a telling contrast between her marriage to Franklin and the other two women’s more affectionate and supportive unions. It gives the Eleanor/Hick relationship room to develop, but that development is still at a snail’s pace, in my opinion. 

Also, if the show was going to continue to interject scenes from the women’s pasts portrayed by the younger cast then why was there an entire episode that focused on them, leaving out our leads entirely? The First Lady Season 1 Episode 3, “Please Allow Me,” now feels like an even bigger error than I’d first thought. 

The performances are compelling—I hold my breath, don’t blink or take my eyes off the screen sometimes—but the messy execution of bringing these women’s inspiring life stories to television is a constant reminder that it could be so much more.

While I think entertwining the stories of all three is an intriguing concept, The First Lady hasn’t yet been able to prove it’s capable of handling this much material which is enough to fill three individual series, easily. I can say, without a doubt, that a season devoted to each First Lady would benefit the show greatly.

Not to mention, being able to see Anderson, Pfieffer, and Davis dig even deeper into their fascinating lives.   

What did you think of this episode of The First Lady? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The First Lady airs Sundays at 9/8c on Showtime.

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