Mom – Big Sad Eyes and a Wrinkled Hot Dog

By: Gladys Luna

The gang has been convinced by Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy) to go on a retreat in the woods for the weekend and now they are on their way. The woman made the room accommodations without asking the others first and announces them they have been paired up as follows: her and Tammy (Kristen Johnston), Bonnie (Allison Janney) and Christy (Anna Faris), Wendy (Beth Hall) and Jill (Jaime Pressly). The group doesn’t seem to be quite thrilled about the decision that their friend has made, but she assures them they will have fun. While on the way Christy complains that she did her roots for nothing since the retreat only allows women so her chances to find a man there have been reduced to zero. Wendy seems excited to be sharing a bunk with Jill and tells her that she has brought some cards so they can play together. Jill just says that she is sure at least one of them will relapse. Tammy sees the van of her dreams passing by and confesses that she believes she will look like a more serious contractor if she had one. Suddenly, Jill realizes that she’ll have to share a bathroom with Wendy – something that doesn’t seem to suit well for her. Just then Marjorie tells her that she will not only share with her but with everyone at the retreat since they have a communal bathroom, something that makes Jill to almost crash them against another car.

The group make a stop at a gas station but only Marjorie and Wendy decide to get out of the car. So, the others take advantage of it and rearrange the room accommodations. Now, Tammy and Christy will share a room while Bonnie and Jill will share another one. Jill is excited since she knows that Bonnie hasn’t brought any cards and the other woman assures her that she had barely packed underwear. So, they are just fine. Later that day Marjorie asks Tammy if she had packed her sleep mask that would help her with her night terrors and the woman retorts that she doesn’t need to worry about that since they won’t be sharing a room anymore and they explain the new arrangements. Wendy has been sitting on a very uncomfortable seat in the back of the car and asks the others when they are going to switch places, but Bonnie tells her that they won’t as long as she keeps eating the cheap hot dog she had just bought.

The group finally arrives at their destination and Wendy seems to be very excited about the goats she just saw outside the place. On a counter nearby Bonnie sees some welcome cookies and decides to take them with her. So, she puts them all in her bag before Jill’s incredulous look. Tammy stands near Jill to make sure she can hear her and starts to repeatedly say that she really needs a van but doesn’t have anyone that could give her a loan so she can buy it. Jill freaks out and, in an attempt to avoid having the conversation, she takes Wendy outside to see more goats. In the meantime, Christy goes to the fake fire in the living room chimney and pretends to be heating her hands. A woman sitting there makes sure to let Christy know that the fire is not for real and then introduces herself as Rebecca (Amy Pietz). They start to discuss about the reason they have ended up there and Christy tells her about her friends. Rebecca even shares a trick she often uses in order to get a room for herself.

Jill and Bonnie enter their room. Bonnie seems to be very surprised by the place while Jill seems to be disgusted. She makes sure to remove all of the bedding while Bonnie looks around. She is happy to find a welcome basket with a journal in it and takes it as a chance for her to start finally writing her own book. Jill seems to be having some troubles with making her bed and says that she should have packed her housekeeper as well. She also takes the opportunity to tell Bonnie that she is avoiding being alone with Tammy since she knows that her friend wants to ask her for a loan and based on prior experiences with other people that never ends up well.

Meanwhile, at Christy and Tammy’s room Christy seems to be very upset that there aren’t any men around and says that lately she has been feeling as though she was invisible. Tammy is mad at Marjorie for replacing some of her socks just in case they would go hiking and also confesses that she feels like a vanless loser. She lets her know that she wants to ask for a loan from Jill, so Christy gives her some advice about what is the facial expression she can use in order to make her give in to her request.

Wendy and Marjorie are at their room folding their clothes into the drawers and Marjorie complains that everyone always expects and demands a lot from her, but they just don’t listen to her. A weird noise comes from Wendy’s stomach and then she ends up throwing up inside her suitcase. Rebecca meets Christy in the communal bathroom and they keep chatting happily. Then, Wendy opens the door and rushes into one of the toilets just to keep throwing up. Christy returns to her room and is surprised to see Tammy packing up her stuff and Marjorie unpacking. She is told that since Wendy has food poisoning they have had to make some adjustments. Tammy goes to Bonnie and Jill’s room and tells them about the current situation, but Jill decides to leave her bed to Tammy. While she was getting ready to leave, Tammy asks her for a loan trying to put on the face that Christy told her earlier. Jill politely declines to help her with that, making Tammy feel sad about it.

The women go to the woods trying to get to a meadow meeting but have just gotten lost. Everybody is mad and exhausted. Then, they finally find one of the signs they’ve been looking for but unfortunately it leads them nowhere. Bonnie takes her time to play a little bit and imitate one of the Blair Witch Project‘s famous scene just for her own amusement.

Later that day Bonnie decides to take some food to Wendy, but the woman yells from inside her room that she doesn’t want any since she has food poisoning. Bonnie decides to leave the soup outside her door. Christy and Jill are sleeping together in the bed, but then suddenly hear Marjorie having a very interesting conversation with her boyfriend on the phone and decide to leave out of there. Christy goes to Rebecca’s room and asks her for a chance to let her spend the night with her. So, the other woman says that since the moment she told her she was there with her mother she was expecting for her to show up. Christy gets in bed, followed by Rebecca who decides to sleep next to her making Christy to go and sleep with Bonnie saying that no matter what she does she always ends up sleeping with her mom.

Jill goes to Wendy’s room and asks her if she can stay with her. Wendy seems to be on a very defensive mode and tells her she know she doesn’t want to be there, but she knows she didn’t have any choice. Jill says that sometimes people do things they don’t like but in the end they are glad they did them. So, they decide to play cards and Jill is surprised to see how skillful Wendy is. Tammy is sad that Jill didn’t want to give her a loan, but Bonnie tells her that she doesn’t need a van to be a serious contractor. She reminds her of all the things she has accomplished and encourages to continue. At the same time, Bonnie seems to be struggling with her writing and says that she thought that a book based on teenage zombie astronauts could write itself. Tammy tells her that what she should write about is her life experiences, something she actually knows about, changing Bonnie’s complete perspective of her story.

It’s time to return home. Christy meets with Marjorie at the lobby and tells her that everyone is ready to go. Marjorie expresses how disappointed she is about the weekend and how her expectations weren’t met. Bonnie honks the horn of the car and they move towards the exit when Christy is intercepted by Rebecca who apologizes to her for misreading the signals. But Christy tells her that she feels flattered since it has been a while. She had felt invisible and Rebecca made her feel different. Christy leaves but then she comes back running and kisses Rebecca, then runs back to the car.

On their way back, Jill tells Tammy that she has decided to give her the loan she asked for but the other woman says that she doesn’t need it anymore and thanks her for the support. Bonnie asks for a spare journal and Marjorie gives her the one she has, asking her to not mind the angry scratches of the first pages. Jill asks her to read something of her writing for them and Bonnie tells them the story she wrote about a memory she had with her mother making everyone congratulate her for it. Then, her moment is interrupted by Christy saying that she just kissed a girl.