Funny Woman Season 1 Episode 5 Review

If the relationship drama in this first two-thirds of the season is a bit much, by the end of Funny Woman Season 1 Episode 5, we know it’s only been the tip of the iceberg.

In predictable form for the era, Clive’s two-timing has no consequences for him while Sophie is fired over her tirade in response. The mood left behind on the show is not a happy one, but it’s nothing to how miserable Barbara now is.

As she lies low at home, actual fights break out between Clive, Dennis, and the others. There’s more than one reason tensions are so high, though, as is revealed through Dennis’s wife’s own infidelity and eventual departure.

After efforts to replace Sophie fall embarrassingly flat, Clive gets torn apart several times over, and Dennis falls on his own sword sticking it to the network head, we’re left with not one but two men wanting to make amends to Sophie.

Dennis leaves his wedding ring behind as he prepares to take a bouquet of roses to her, but he’s interrupted by a run-in with Clive. The latter decides to take the advice that he save their image very seriously, and Sophie opens her door to find him down on one knee.

Just in case all of this isn’t enough, there’s also another throwaway mention of Barbara’s mother—one that becomes considerably less throwaway with the revelation that the woman might be tracking her daughter down again very soon.

From Clive trying to repair his relationship by leaping all the way to a proposal to the demise of Dennis’s marriage coming at the hands of his wife, there is very little I saw coming about how any of these romantic complications would play out.

 I do give credit for the shock value factor. Funny Woman already feels somewhat different than many of the shows on BBC/PBS, and these moves feel like they would befit the most hyped-up episodes of a hit primetime drama on a major network.

It’s a stretch to think that Clive’s proposal comes from much more than the need to save face. Regardless of Sophie’s pending answer, and even regardless of whether she has a future with Dennis, their affair seems doomed, with the consequences sure to be awkward at best.

Then there’s Dennis himself. I’m certain his resignation won’t stick, but a divorce is likely inevitable. His wife being the one to cheat (and limiting her own window of empathy) doesn’t make this mess much better, only saving one spouse’s image at the expense of another.

With only one episode to go and no guarantee of renewal, I’m very curious to see where the writers will choose to at least temporarily end this story. Nick Hornby’s book goes well into the future of these characters—much further than can be told in an hour.

In the short term, Sophie’s going to have to make some tough decisions under the public eye and possibly as her mother comes back into her life. With those stakes, this hour’s upheaval may well just be a sign of what’s to come.

 

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Funny Woman airs Sundays at 10/9c on PBS.

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