The First Lady Review: Punch Perfect (Season 1 Episode 8)

The storytelling separates Betty from Eleanor and Michelle in an odd and indirect way on The First Lady Season 1 Episode 8, “Punch Perfect.”

Like many of the decisions made on The First Lady, the choice to have two strong plots bookended by a weaker, unconnected one on this episode is completely confounding. Connections—both storywise and through cinematic visuals—are hard to come by, making this mash-up of biopics a disjointed dramatized history

The consistent throughline The First Lady struggles with derailed after the first episode and never could get back on track. The First Lady Season 1 Episode 3, “Please Allow Me,” has the most cohesive storytelling, but none of the leads, only the younger counterparts.

It both pains and perplexes me that a series based on extraordinary women with extraordinary women portraying them is falling short. Screentime remains unbalanced between the three Ladies, doing a disservice to each story as well as the overall. What could be a complex look into these women who were at the center of history and whose perspective of that history is largely unknown is turning into a basic, slipshod framework that cannot hold as much history as the show tries to cram in. 

The individual stories suffer, and on “Punch Perfect,” Betty’s exit from the White House and life as retired First Lady is thrown in haphazardly while Michelle fights for Black lives and Eleanor for Jewish lives. Betty has been fighting, too, for women’s rights and mental health awareness and for Rumsfeld (Derek Cecil) and Cheney (Rhys Wakefield) to show some human decency. 

Though, the Betty story told on this episode seems to be showing that fighting spirit diminishing. It is consistent, however, with the direction Betty’s path took on Episode 7, “Nadir.” Yay for continuity, but it comes at a cost. In this case, it’s isolating Betty, lessening the impact of her growing dependency on drugs and alcohol. 

It’s even more confusing to use this extraneous storyline as a buttress for the two stronger ones that relate to each other both on topic and approach.

Michelle publicly speaking up for Black lives and Eleanor’s backdoor campaigning to save Jewish refugees shows their formidable tenacity. Michelle knows we can’t stay quiet on the senseless killing of people of color. Eleanor knows we can’t be complacent in the face of injustice.

The bulk of this episode is these two women fighting for racial equality, and in that regard, it’s well done. Including Malia Obama (Lexi Underwood) and Lorena Hickock (Lily Rabe) in scenes adds to the complexity of their fight. 

Gillian Anderson and Rabe are thoroughly captivating as Eleanor and Hick. There really should be an entire series that centers on them. Thusly, what we do get of them will always feel insufficient. 

The exceptional performances continue to be the main draw as well as the show’s saving grace, but can it be the glue that holds it all together? With just two episodes remaining, that’s asking a lot of these actors who have already given so much. It’s well past the time that the story structure should take over some of the heavy lifting.

Tacking on this irrelevant Betty story so crudely to the beginning and the end of the episode only serves to shine a spotlight on the weaknesses and inconsistencies that have plagued the first season of The First Lady. 

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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