Mom – A Few Thongs and a Hawaiian Funeral

By: Julie Mante

 
Christy (Anna Faris), Bonnie (Allison Janney), Jill (Jaime Pressly) and Emily (Julia Lester) are shopping at an intimate clothing store. Jill tries to help Emily find some underwear, which is embarrassing for the young teen. Bonnie, on the other hand, is looking for lingerie. Jill admits to Christy that she is worried that Emily is not having a good time and Christy tries to assure her that Emily is happy in Jill’s care. Jill tells Christy that she and Emily will be visiting Natasha (Missi Pyle), Emily’s mother, at her state mandated rehab facility. When Adam (William Fichtner) and Bonnie are having dinner later, Bonnie is eager to show Adam her new bra. Adam has some news that he knows Bonnie will not like. He asks her to watch his dog Samson for a few days so he can attend a funeral. At first Bonnie does not know why he thinks that she will be upset. When he reveals that the funeral will be in Hawaii and the person who died is his ex-wife’s mother, Bonnie is outraged. She cannot bare the idea of her boyfriend and ex-wife grieving together in Hawaii.

The next day Bonnie, Christy, Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy) and Wendy (Beth Hall) have lunch at the bistro. Bonnie tells her friends about her situation with Adam. Bonnie is convinced that Adam and Danielle (Wendie Malick) will have sex at the funeral. In her opinion, grieving and crying is foreplay. Wendy tells them that she lost her virginity at a funeral. Christy tells her mother that while Adam and Danielle are alone together in Hawaii, Adam trusted her enough to leave his dog with her. Jill arrives and tells the group that she did not take Emily to visit Natasha. Jill tells them that Emily did not want to go see her mother so Jill agreed. Christy is not shy to tell her friend that Jill should have forced Emily to go. Jill is not convinced that Natasha wants to be sober and is simply using rehab to stay out of jail. Marjorie reminds Jill that the visits are mandatory and Jill is required to take Emily or she risks losing custody of Emily.

As Bonnie is petting Samson, she feels a lump on his head. Quickly Bonnie yells for Christy and tells her about it. When Bonnie visits the vet, he tells her the lump is fatty tissue. Christy tags along with Jill for Emily’s mandated visit with her mother. Emily introduces Jill to her mother and Natasha thanks Jill for taking care of her daughter. When Christy and Natasha are introduced, Natasha recognizes Christy from her stripper days. Turns out both women used to work at the same strip club Live Nudes. As Jill and Emily go get a snack at the vending machine, Natasha is eager to talk about their former job much to Christy’s chagrin. Natasha tells Christy that she has dreams of becoming a singer and she plans to move to LA to pursue her career. Christy is curious about how Natasha is faring in rehab, but Natasha is not taking her sobriety seriously. Christy tells her about being sober for four years and pursuing her law degree. Christy offers to help Natasha stay sober. Jill and Christy are surprised when Natasha mentions she wants to move to LA with Emily.

The next day Christy returns home and finds her mother frustrated that Samson keeps spitting out his pill. Christy goes to check on Natasha after receiving a frantic call from her. Bonnie goes back to the vet to get advice on her dilemma. The vet has no trouble getting Samson to take his pill. Natasha is desperate to get out of rehab. She got into an altercation with another resident and things got physical.  Natasha suggests living with Christy for a while. Christy tells her that she is just making excuses. When Bonnie brings Samson to the vet again, he tells her that her anxiety about Danielle and Adam is manifesting itself in Samson. This explanation makes sense to Bonnie. At the bistro, Christy is still trying to help Natasha which annoys Jill. Jill believes that Natasha has chosen booze over Emily many times and Jill knows Emily is better off with her. Christy takes her friend’s words personally. Not too long ago, she was Natasha. A woman who chose drinking over her children so she believes helping Natasha is the right thing to do. The two go back and forth. Jill says that if Natasha gets custody of Emily again, she will fall off the wagon and Emily will go back to the system. Christy reminds Jill that she was in rehab several times and Christy never gave up on her. Frustrated, Christy walks out.

As Christy is spending time with Natasha, Emily and Jill show up unexpectedly. Jill decides to share her rehab story with Natasha and how Christy helped her stay sober. In the closer, Adam returns from the funeral. Bonnie pretends that nothing happened with Samson and asks Adam how the funeral went. He said things went fine. Adam gives Bonnie a beautiful bracelet and tells her that spending time with his ex-wife made him appreciate how much he loves Bonnie.