One Day At a Time: The Netflix Show That Keeps on Giving

By: Marnie Faith

There are few shows that offer you equal parts comfort, humor, progression and emotion in less than half an hour per episode. One Day At A Time continues to prove itself as part of the small percentage that can. The multi-generational sitcom follows a Cuban family that focuses around an intrinsically woven family. Single mother Penelope (Justina Machado) continues to ensure her children Elena (Isabella Gomez) and Alex (Marcel Ruiz) are steadily weaving their way through their teenage years whilst also attempting to keep her mental well-being in check, progress her nursing career…and live with the Alvarez Abuelita, Lydia (Rita Moreno). Throw Schneider (Todd Grinnell), their stupidly rich, overly attentive landlord into the mix and it’s the perfect unconventional family.

One Day At A Time has established its own formula for storytelling. Every season explores varying issues that are personally affecting the members of the Alvarez family, but remain prevalent to real life at the time. These narratives are given the perfect amount of nurture to ensure they’re informing, engaging and vulnerable, leaving viewers feeling ever closer to the family. Whilst previous seasons have tackled subjects such as homophobia, classism and racism, Season Three proves to be bigger and better – focusing on an array of topics from toxic masculinity and consent to mental health issues such as anxiety and addiction. Whilst sticking to the same story-telling techniques can often leave a show feeling predictable and outdated, One Day At A Time uses theirs throughout Season Three to help viewers realize how attached they’ve grown to not only the Alvarezes, but also to the people connected to the family.

The show’s ability to produce stand alone episodes whilst also plotting a larger narrative through passing one liners and snippet stories leaves viewers always wondering what’s coming next. From Lydia accidentally popping one of Leslie’s (Stephen Tobolowsky) weed lozenges to an entire episode dedicated to dealing with the pressures surrounding LGBT+ youth and intimacy, Season Three expertly crafts a show that remains light-hearted whilst helping the viewers learn a thing or two about universal issues. Arguably nothing summarizes the show quite like beginning the series at a funeral featuring Lydia and her sister (Gloria Estefan) singing Ave Maria and ending it at a wedding in which ex-husband Victor (James Martinez) marries Penelope’s doppelganger.

The unifying concept throughout the season is the essence of time. Instead of giving its main character a timeline of events that occur over a few weeks or months, Season Three is spread over the course of a year. During this year we are able to see the highs and lows that each character encounters all whilst living in the comfort that the show always strives to give us a happy ending at the conclusion of it all. The result of this technique is that we’re able to see the characters properly develop over a realistic timeframe. Having Lydia get back on her feet following her stroke, Schneider fall off the wagon, Alex getting grounded for doing weed and Penelope indulging in a new possible love interest before realizing she’s more than content without a man all taking place over the space of a few weeks would have felt forced (not even the Alvarez’s lives are that crazy). Instead, viewers are afforded the chance to watch them develop as independents and a familial unit throughout a realistic time-frame, which only further adds a sense of realism to the compelling stories being told.

In all honesty, there’s so much worth shouting about in Season Three that it’s difficult to decide which narratives should make the cut. One Day At A Time just hits the mark every single time. Even when some of its jokes fall flat, it’ll redeem itself five minutes later. One of the most notable developments of the season; however, is that of Schneider. Admittedly, it took me a while to warm to him in previous seasons. I was reluctant to like him based on the fact I couldn’t work out where he fit into the Alvarez puzzle – was I meant to be rooting for him to end up with Penelope or simply hope he becomes Elena and Alex’s cool uncle that’ll let Elena be his handy-woman sidekick and take Alex to sports practice? Thanks to Season Three I’ve grown to love him. Like, really love him. By the finale I wanted to reach into my laptop and give him a hug.  Though not an Alvarez by blood, he reminds viewers that DNA doesn’t always equate to family. He’s been there for the family through everything and this season it was their turn to be there for him in his hour of need.

Whilst prior seasons have painted him as the comedic relief of the Alvarez dynamic, Season Three afforded viewers the chance to see the darker side of Schneider. Through his dumb-witted, good intentioned, well-humored personality it’s all too easy to forget his previous struggles with alcohol addiction. Episode eleven “The Man” brought viewers firmly back down to reality however. Victor informs Penelope of his beliefs that Schneider was drunk at dinner. It isn’t until episode twelve “Drinking and Driving,” that Alex finds him in the laundry room, cradling his vomit soaked trousers, that viewers are introduced to Drunk and Hostile Schneider. He snaps at Alex, telling him not to tell Penelope as “she’s just gonna freak out and overreact” before assuring him that his intoxicated state was just a one time thing. Thankfully, Alex’s new-found maturity leads him to telling his mum, allowing the family to care for Schneider.

What sets Schneider’s story above other sitcoms that have attempted to convey addiction issues is the authenticity of it. It explains addiction from in a well-rounded perspective. We see the build up to his relapse, to him actually falling off the wagon, then we see the Alvarez’s reaction, and finally, we see Schneider in AA meeting admitting the fact he’s back at day one of his sobriety. Being able to witness Penelope’s reaction, both in front of her kids and solely toward Schneider, depict just how heart-wrenching seeing a loved one relapse really is. When in front of her family she snaps into maternal mode, assuring everyone that everything will be okay. However, when alone with Schneider, her priorities turn toward the fact he put her son in the tough position of finding him in that state. To be able to gauge the family’s reactions, seeing them genuinely wishing for Schneider to recover and comforting him, is a perspective that is often overlooked. It reaffirms the notion that those struggling don’t have to go face their battles alone whilst reminding us that family really is everything.

Schneider’s relapse is just one of the many well dealt issues this season. Something the show can certainly be commended for is the family-friendly approach they take to addressing pressing issues. Though never sugar coating the things they wish to talk about, they manage to execute the stories without scaring people. A particularly compelling scene between the group was one in which, having discovered Alex’s “Finsta” account, the women of the Alvarez family don’t appreciate his objectification of his girlfriend. Penelope attempts to sympathize with men, saying that the dating world is “tricky” as a result of heightened societal awareness surrounding the importance of consent to which Elena rages at. She educates them on the effects of toxic masculinity – how anti-rape campaigns are always targeted towards women, instead of teaching men not to rape. She later reveals that her and her “Syd-nificant other,” Syd (Sheridan Pierce) were the victims of sexual harassment whilst simply walking down the street – something that will, unfortunately, be a familiar situation for many of the show’s female viewers. This is what makes the story-telling so effective. Issues are raised in a way that viewers understand and can relate to, thereby heightening the sense of realism and seriousness surrounding them.

In it’s lighter moments One Day At A Time can also show us the importance of unison and community. Whilst Season Two paved the foundations for Alex’s maturation, this narrative really comes to light this season. From him comforting Elena during one of her panic attacks, being inquisitive towards Penelope when she reveals her struggles with mental illness and not to mention the immense pressure that came with finding Schneider in his intoxicated state, it’s clear that gone is the prepubescent version of himself whose biggest concern was his status on the high school hierarchy. Instead, Alex blossomed this season. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still obsessed with expensive shoes, whether or not his hair looks good and entertaining his friends, but his character development also runs a lot deeper now. Though having never been pressured to step up to the “man of the family” role in the absence of his father, his protective nature towards his family is prominent throughout Season Three. It seems baby Alvarez isn’t so much of a baby anymore. Away from the family the various supports and solaces the family seeks out are continually praised. Whether it is Penelope’s support group, Schneider’s new girlfriend Avery (India de Beaufort) or Penelope’s former boyfriend Mateo (Alex Quijano), they all play their role in supporting the core characters, allowing them to continue to evolve into the best versions of themselves.

As previously mentioned, the show never leaves itself ending on a bad note. This season’s finale was no different. Viewers finally see Penelope’s hard work pay off as her name plaque hangs proudly under Leslie’s in the office, asserting her position as a Nurse Practitioner. All throughout the season the stress of her board exams was clear, but to see her hard work finally pay off as she walks across the graduation stage evoked a sense of pride in arguably everyone who watched. Not only that, but Lydia finally went back to Cuba! Even after voicing how much it would hurt her to do so! Accompanied by Leslie, the pair are seen in the Cuban streets happily smoking cigars. This not only highlights the sense of achievement for all of the gang, but opens up a whole new world of stories for the show to explore! I demand a scene of Leslie drunk off Sangria in season four .

Having successfully established itself as a sitcom that isn’t afraid to mix satire with education, nor will ever back down from addressing the issues that so desperately need the spotlight bringing to them, One Day At A Time urges us as viewers to rethink how we interpret authenticity in our television shows. Showrunners could have easily gone down the route of white washing the core cast and by choosing to play up to typical Latino stereotypes to make for a show that had so much potential, but fell victim to overdone tropes that make for harmful representation. Instead, it chooses to continually showcase multi-dimensional characters who come from a range of backgrounds. In Season Three alone we see a number of different ages, races, gender identities, sexuality and classes. Though Lydia Riera would die before she allowed any single viewer to forget the family’s Cuban heritage (or the fact that her little “papito” is her favorite), the journeys the group encounter throughout the season successfully legitimizes a range of demographics and normalizes so many issues within today’s society. From recovering addicts to single parents with PTSD, over-protective mothers and outspoken siblings we see it all encased within three generations of Alvarez’s as well as the family they’ve picked up along the way. In short, it’s entertaining and educational, but it’s also realistic and representational. This season seeks to validate families from all walks of life, whilst reminding us that this is it – this is life, the one we get, so go and have a ball!