At some point in Showtime's
evolution as a network, it has changed from a home for original series that
targeted a specific audience (Soul Food,
Queer as Folk, The L Word) to dark series with an edge (Homeland, United States of Tara, The Big C) to
specializing in series with a genuine sense of sketchiness to them, usually
featuring in dark sex. It has moved a bit away from that direction, mainly with
its dramas (Billions, The Affair) ,
but its comedies have a very dark edge to them. So it would be easy to look at SMILF,
which centers around Bridget (Frankie Shaw) a twenty-ish mother in
Southie (Boston ) as just another
series in the Californication/Weeds mold.
But this is different. For one
thing, Shaw is the creator/writer of this series, which is based not only on a
short film she designed, but also has an autobiographical flair. She is trying
to raise her toddler son, co-parenting with her baby daddy Raffi (Miguel Gomez),
who has also moved on to dating a local sportscaster named Nelson (Samara
Weaving). The series also goes out of its way not to demonize the other woman, which is refreshing. She is trying
to support herself and her son doing small acting jobs and tutoring richer kids
(as she freely admits, this involves doing most of the work for them). It's
very clear that at some point Bridget saw so much more for herself - in
addition to her education, she's also an excellent pick-up basketball player.
But now, she lives life on the fringes, spending time working for the family of
a much more affluent student (Connie Britton does good work as the mother), and
actually considering working in a similar field with her friend (Raven Goodwin)
who is into a very specialized form of an internet porn. And there's a certain
tragic aspect to her life - almost in passing in the pilot, she mentioned that
she was sexually abused by her father, and its clear that it affects her nearly
as much as living in poverty does.
Now, because this is Showtime,
there's a level of skeeziness to this
that seems obligatory She basically picks an old friend off the street to have
sex with so she can see if she's back to normal, she has sex with a former
student of her, which leads to an interrupted ejaculation shot (ewww!!) and in
the middle of looking for work at a temp agency, she has what amounts to a
fantasy where she considers working in something 'prostitution adjacent'. But
there's a certain level of humanity to this that has been severely lacking in
so many similar Showtime series. At one point, desperate to earn money, she
goes on Craigslist meets with a man who seems more desperate for companionship
and conversation than deviant sex. They go into a convenience store and have a
long conversation about the American Dream and dashed hopes that, frankly,
wouldn't have been out of place on a David Simon series. Of course, it climaxes
with something much darker, and a more realized punch line, but there seemed
more energy to it than I'm used to from a typical Showtime series.
SMILF
is not a perfect series by any stretch of the imagination. I can definitely
see ways that it could end up operating in the same wheelhouse where Shameless did for far too long. And it
still hasn't found a way to balance its cast very well. (Rosie O'Donnell plays
Bridget's mother, but still hasn't been given enough to make a character yet.)
But there's enough good stuff there for the series to work a lot better than
its title would suggest. Unfortunately, this is Showtime. A lot of series start
with the perfect measure of darkness and comedy and flatten out very quickly. I
hope for Frankie Shaw, and for Bridget, that this it not the case.
My score: 3.5 stars.
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