Mom – Go-Go Boots and a Butt Cushion

By: Sammi Turano

The episode opens with Christy (Anna Farris) and Nora (Yvette Nicole Brown) at the diner. Nora wonders why she isn’t eating. Christy says the food at Gambler’s Anonymous puts AA food to shame because it is so delicious. 

She goes on to say that although the food is good, she isn’t sure she needs Gamblers Anonymous because she isn’t like the other people there. She says she can’t play Bingo (which she thinks is harmless and Nora says she lost an aunt to church Bingo, so the game has a dark side) or flip a coin. 

Nora says she has to give it a chance. Christy says she made it ninety days, which doesn’t feel as satisfactory as her ninety day mark in AA. When that happened, she wanted Al Roker to be at a parade in her honor/ Nora says she often wonders about her self esteem. Christy then drops a bombshell that she wants to quit GA.

Christy goes home, where  Bonnie (Allison Janney) is in the kitchen, excited to congratulate Christy on her ninety days. Christy is about to tell her she is leaving GA when she is surprised with a cake along with Jill (Jamie Pressly), Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy) and Wendy (Beth Hall).

Bonnie calls her an inspiration and gives her a cake from scratch out of the box. Wendy is a bit jealous of the party.

Nora takes Christy to GA, who explains that she wants to stick with it because it made Bonnie proud and she got cake. Nora offers her advice before sending her in and commenting on how the meeting looks like a Sizzler. 

Christy talks to a woman named Lucy (Susan Ruttan) who she wants to be her sponsor. However, Lucy is only three days in. She instead talks to a guy named Ned (Sam McMurray) and tells him she doesn’t really think she needs these meetings.

Bonnie is outside when she sees Mr. Munson (Charles Robinson) who tells her she was supposed to drive her to radiation. She wants a few minutes to get ready, but he tells her they don’t have time.

Christy and Ned have coffee and he tells her his gambling woes, which included a secret second mortgage, dipping into his daughter’s college fund and finally getting beat up so badly it became a wake-up call. She admits she never had that kind of gambling problem. He explains there are two different kinds of gamblers….a cucumber who does it once in awhile and a pickle who goes to Vegas, loses it all and moves there. He tells her to try controlled gambling to see if there is a problem…as long as she calls if she feels it’s getting out of control.

Bonnie and Mr. Munson are driving to radiation. He says she can let him drive as a make up for forgetting she was supposed to drive him. She is hesitant, but lets him do it anyway. 

At home, Bonnie catches Christy with lottery tickets. She says she baked her a cake and Christy explains the controlled gambling. She says Ned told her it was ok, leading Bonnie to go to the meeting and confront him—but not before she has a meatball sandwich.

At the diner, Christy rehashes the story to the ladies and explains the controlled gambling idea. Bonnie is upset, but Marjorie says she sometimes does this with her sponsees. Bonnie wonders why nobody did this for her and they all remind her that her first meeting consisted of her showing up on a lawn mower wearing nothing but go-go boots and a hockey jersey.

Jill says Christy might be right and tells a story of a friend who got drunk, slept with her Uber driver, mistook a raccoon for her cat and got herpes and rabies—but she is not an alcoholic! Christy still insists she is okay and Marjorie says she might be and can go to help later if she needs it. Bonnie tells them all to suck it.

At the house, Bonnie and Christy are still arguing over the gambling issue, which leads to them fighting over law school the cake and Bonnie’s mothering skills. Christy gets an excess check, which Bonnie tries to take away. She storms off and tells Bonnie nobody will buy her young adult novels, which now feature teenage robots, one of which is transgender. Bonnie vents to Mr. Munson, who won’t say anything because she won’t let him drive.

Christy is at the casino parking lot with the money. She calls Ned because she is scared she is going to gamble. She leaves him a message and debates if she wants to go in. She calls Bonnie, all the while debating if she should just go in for the buffet while remembering all the fun gambling games. Bonnie arrives and Christy tells her the money is in the truck. She admits she has a problem and is glad Bonnie changed for the better. 

The other ladies arrive one by one and Wendy checks the trunk to see if the money is there. She finally finds it as Ned calls. Christy admits she has a problem. As this happens, Bonnie runs off to stop Mr. Munson from stealing her car.

The show ends with Lucy admitting she relapsed and wants Christy to be her sponsor. She admits she is back on day one and gives her the same advice Ned gave her.