Mom – Twirly Flippy Men and a Dirty Bird

By: Gladys Luna

The episode opens with Bonnie (Allison Janney) trying to high five Gus but the dog does not seem to be in the mood for it. Right that moment Adam (William Fichtner) enters the room yelling and making the dog run away and leaving Bonnie on her own. The man asks her if she has eaten the chocolate that he had in his drawer and she confesses she did, but she’s thinking about getting him another one at the gas station later that day. Adam only gets even more upset since that was just not any random kind of chocolate for him. Bonnie does not seem to take him seriously, but the arguing continues to escalate as he compares her with Augustus Gloop, given the way he thinks she has eaten his chocolate.

Christy (Anna Faris) arrives to her work at the restaurant and meets with Rudy (French Stewart). She asks him about the special for the day, but is surprised when he expresses that what would be special is to have a “cheery hello” from her. So, she immediately knows that he must be wanting something from her, making the man to tell the truth. It seems that he got a DUI and his license was suspended. Therefore, in order to get it back, he had to attend to ten AA meetings and get his card signed, so what he truly needs is for her to do that for him. However, she refuses and tells him to do it himself. In an attempt to get her help, Rudy reminds her that he could go to jail and if he does than she’ll no longer have a place to work. She agrees to at least take him to her AA meetings, but asks him to be nice to the people there since she knows them all.

At the AA meeting Bonnie shares with Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy) and Tammy (Kristen Johnston) about her earlier fight with Adam. She doesn’t understand how he got mad over a chocolate and considers he is overreacting, but Marjorie tells her that maybe it is not the chocolate that he is upset about but her respecting his boundaries. Unfortunately, the woman doesn’t seem to be getting it so Marjorie decides to drop the conversation there. On the other side of the room Christy is attempting for Rudy to get into the place, but he seems to be reluctant. When he finally does, he throws one of his expected snarky comments when seeing the people there and the woman asks him to sit down and remain quiet while she gets him a coffee. Mary (Mary Pat Gleason), who is next to him, tries to introduce herself, but he immediately breaks conversation before it even starts.

Christy goes to the coffee table and complains to Marjorie about Rudy’s behavior and how he does not care about getting sober so she believes he’s just a waste of time. But then the other woman tells her that maybe if she changes her attitude towards him that she can save his life. Once the meeting is over Rudy and Christy get into her car and she expresses how proud she is of him for attending, but he seems just to be happy that he only has nine more meetings to go and he’ll get his license back. Suddenly Jill (Jaime Pressly) and Wendy (Beth Hall) get into the car unpleasantly surprising Rudy, but then Wendy tells him that it is their tradition to go the bistro after every meeting. He tells Christy that he wasn’t “court-ordered” for coffee and pie at the bistro with them so she suggests he can get an Uber instead. He confesses that he would do it if he wasn’t banned from it, Lyft and most gypsy cabs.

Back at Bonnie’s house the woman is trying to place a chocolate bar in Adam’s drawer when the man enters and sees her. He gets even more upset about her not respecting his requests. She explains that she was just trying to replace the chocolate she ate but, unfortunately, not with the same kind of chocolate. Adam tells her that what he needs is to have something of his property inside of her house and Bonnie reminds him that he rented his apartment so he could invest in his bar and that was their agreement. She also tells him that the reason why they live in her apartment is because she is the building manager and she thinks that maybe he is just jealous of her career. When Adam sarcastically questions her about that, the woman gets mad and leaves the whole room. She goes to Christy’s room, but the her daughter throws herself on the bed not leaving an inch of space for her. So, Bonnie has no choice but to go to the living room where Gus is lying on the couch. When she asks him to leave, the dog refuses so she tries to make herself a space next to him.

At the Bistro Bonnie complains about her neck hurting from sleeping in the couch and how she believes that Adam keeps overreacting, but Marjorie tells her that maybe she could let him take some of his stuff to their home he could feel the place is also his. Right that moment Christy gets a call from Rudy asking her to take him to the mall, but she refuses. She is very annoyed by his behavior, how he make jokes about the meetings and says that she cannot stand him anymore. Marjorie reminds her that being forced to attend the AA meetings must be hard for him. Besides, she believes that he is not a lost cause – just a very lonely man and that she should be patient with him.

The next day Bonnie is having breakfast in the living room while Adam is in the kitchen. They share unpleasant looks at each other and then go back to their food. Bonnie breaks the silence that has been created from the other side of the room and apologizes to him, but he pretends not to listen and asks her to go closer. She expresses that she knows he made a big sacrifice leaving his apartment and moving in with her just so she could keep her job and that she wanted him to feel as the house belongs to him as well. So, she asks him to bring some of his stuff and put them around the place. Adam seems to be grateful for the gesture.

Later that day at the AA meeting Marjorie is giving a beautiful speech about what it was for her to stop drinking and the things she used to do due to the alcohol. Christy tries to encourage Rudy to tell his story, but he declines. When she is driving him home she suddenly starts crying when recalling Marjorie’s story. When Rudy realizes of it, he makes fun of her making the woman go mad and asking him to drop off the car.

Bonnie comes back home and is surprised by Adam and the things he has brought. He knows that changes do not suit her well, so he just added a few things. She is happy to see his books over the living room table and the espresso maker. Adams wants to show her the bedroom and the woman is surprised to see a fish hanging over their headboard. She is not sure about what to think about it, but then Adam tells her that he didn’t even remember that he had it and that is special to him. It was the last fish he and his father caught before he died. So, he tells her not to worry and she’ll get used to it before she knows it.

Christy arrives at her work and is surprised to see everybody scattered around the room and nervous. She looks for Rudy, but he’s nowhere to be found. She goes to the corner of the place and sees Chef Paul (Reggie De Leon) sitting there while biting a towel and in complete distress. Apparently, he was trying to manage the kitchen on his own but he couldn’t. Christy encourages to step up while she goes in search of Rudy. She shows up at the chef’s house and when he opens the door he is disappointed to see that is not the hooker he had been expecting. Christy tells him that unfortunately she has just jumped off of a cliff. She is shocked to find Rudy with a martini in his hand and wearing nothing but a robe. He says that he tried to drink before going to work as he usually does, but he didn’t enjoy it and blames her for it. Christy asks him to drop his act and get dressed. He has nothing to do but obey her. That night when Bonnie and Adam are trying to have some intimacy the woman finds herself unable to stop looking at the fish instead of Adam. She believes the fish is looking at her as well.