Dating is hard. Dating while sober is overwhelming.
Single Drunk Female Season 1 Episode 5 showed viewers the realistic challenges alcoholics face while finding someone new, especially in the early parts of sobriety.
Sam’s plight of wanting to have sex and stay sober was real, yet some of her one-liners were hilarious.
Before we dive into Sam and her dating issues, let’s discuss Carol’s mind games with Brit. What possible reason could she have for messing with Brit?
Carol has a strained relationship with her daughter, which worsened when she agreed to go to Brit’s wedding. Is Carol hoping to repair things with Sam by breaking up Brit and Joel? It seemed like a weird sort of peace offering from a mom.
We don’t know enough information about the beginning of Brit’s and Joel’s relationship. Did they bond while caring for a grieving and drunk Sam? Stranger things have happened.
Carol stuck so many doubts in Brit’s ear, including that Joel wasn’t a deep thinker, that she began to have cold feet.
Wedding planning can be stressful that it sometimes sucks the fun out of the relationship.
However, Brit always looked overwhelmed, whether she was trying on dresses or choosing a reading.
She kept hearing Carol’s voice buzzing in her ear when Joel suggested one. It may have been an overdone choice, but so many women would love to have their fiances that involved.
Will this wedding happen because right now, it seems like Joel loves Brit more than she loves him?
Let’s move on to the central part of the episode, which focused on how much Sam missed sex.
Sam: If I don’t see some action soon, this whole area is going to break off and drift off to sea.
Olivia: Six months is when it happened to me too.
Sam: Your privates sacrificed themselves to the tide?
Olivia: No, I started to feel my body again. You’re just emerging from sobriety survival mode.
Why would you brag to your sponsor that you’re going to put the moves on one of her other sponsees? Even though Olivia and Sam discuss some questionable topics, that seemed wrong.
Sofia Black-Elia had some of her funniest lines with this storyline. They were relatable as we’ve all had disaster dates or tried a lousy pick-up line.
Sam tried flirting with James while they were jogging. She was so forward when she took off her shirt and pretended she had a cramp, wanting him to help her.
Garrick Bernard and Sofia Black-Elia played off each other beautifully. That kiss had chemistry, but they had to follow the rules of Alcoholics Anonymous, and James broke away.
James: Whoa!
Sam: Whoa good or whoa bad? It’s bad, isn’t it?
Rules are so frustrating when you’re horny. All Sam wanted was to make out with James, and they’ve had an incredible connection since the beginning.
She didn’t take the rejection well, especially since she only went jogging to hit on him, and she’s in pain for real now.
Listen. We’re on different timelines. If we were both newcomers, this would have ended up very differently.
James
James needs to stop with the mixed messages and decide if he likes Sam or keeps her firmly in the friend zone since the mixed messages aren’t fair to either.
With her wing woman Felician helping her, Sam soon re-activated her Tinder account. The work alcoholic Brian was awkward but lovely.
Sam wanted sex so badly that she let the awkwardness slip by at first. It became an issue when Brian was so nervous about having Sam at his apartment unexpectedly that he downed a shot of alcohol.
He had the nerve to offer Sam some after she mentioned she was sober. He even thought she was kidding initially.
When Sam tasted the alcohol on his breath while making out, it was too much for her. No matter how much she wanted sex, she wasn’t willing to backslide, so, good for her.
Sam: This shop is officially closed for business.
Felicia: By shop, you mean your vagina?
Sam: What else could I possibly mean?
Felicia: Aww Sam, don’t get all sad on me. This was your first try.
Sam has matured so much, and she wasn’t afraid to say that she was still annoyed with James even if she showed up.
People who are just friends don’t stare anxiously at the door waiting for their “friend” to show up. James needs to make up his mind, and Sam shouldn’t have to wait around while he does that.
James: Want to dance?
Sam: I think I’m going to ease my way into it. I’m not sure how my body moves without a gin and tonic in its system.
Boy, did Sam have fun dancing out there. She started dancing with her friends and then danced and kissed a girl named Chloe.
Sam has never expressed an interest in girls.
However, she said either on her profile, so will Single Drunk Female explore as a bi character?
Freeform has written several LGBTQ characters on their shows, so hopefully, that kiss was the real thing and not a revenge one to get back at James.
Sam and Chloe could be really, really interesting, as they are both Olivia’s sponsees, so hopefully, we’ll explore more of their journeys.
Each week, we have gotten peaks into Olivia and Stephanie’s marriage. Why is Stephanie so upset with the time Olivia spends with her sponsees?
It’s rude how she interrupts almost every conversation Olivia has with Sam.
To see her drinking in front of all sponsees sends the wrong message.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more before they dig much deeper into their IVF journey. A baby doesn’t save an unhappy marriage.
Over to you, Single Drunk Female Fanatics. What do you think of Sam and Chloe? Or are you still rooting for James and Sam?
What kind of games is Carol playing? Chime in below in the comments.
Remember, if you miss an episode, you can watch Single Drunk Female online right here via TV Fanatic.
Single Drunk Female airs at 10: 30/ 9:30c on Thursdays on Freeform.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.