Sofia Black-D’Elia shines as Freeform’s Single Drunk Female
The sobriety journey at the heart of Single Drunk Female proves just as funny, moving, and messy as the show's protagonist
TV Reviews Richard E. Grant
Drunk acting is hard to do. For every incredible Mads Mikkelsen in Another Round or Richard E. Grant in Withnail & I, there’s an actor hamming it up— swaying from side to side and slurring every other word. Luckily, across the board, the drunk acting in Single Drunk Female falls into the latter category.
Sofia Black-D’Elia makes for an incredible lead across all 10 episodes, selling every moment of Samantha’s story as a woman with high-functioning alcoholism rebuilding her life. When the series begins, Samantha is working as a writer for a New York media outlet called Bzzzz, showing up late for meetings and drinking straight vodka out of a water bottle. When her boss (played by the always hilarious Jon Glaser) confronts her, Black-D’Elia mines laughs out of the moment, underplaying the obvious markers of drunkenness and instead playing up the belligerence; her lapses in coherent logic are undercut by a subtle ever-shifting center of gravity. The meeting ends in disaster, and Samantha finds herself in trouble with the law and forced into court mandated sobriety.
The show, from first-time creator Simone Finch (The Conners), follows Samantha over the course of a year, trying to maintain her sobriety and rebuild her life. True to well-worn comedy tropes, she returns, humiliated, to the small town she grew up in and is forced to move in with her mother (Ally Sheedy). Black-D’Elia proves just as compelling a presence playing sober as drunk, and has equally impressive dramatic chops to go alongside her comedy. Samantha’s pain and struggles to remain sober and make amends are moving even when punctuated with her snarky retorts. She perfectly embodies the show’s tonal balance, which often feels off when she’s not onscreen.
As Samantha works to stay sober, she assembles a support network. Her new sober family includes her NPR superstar sponsor, Olivia (Rebecca Henderson), and her stylish grocery store boss, Mindy (Jojo Brown). Most of all, she leans on drunken one-night stand turned potential sober love interest (played by the charming Garrick Bernard), who she has to postpone the inevitable romance with in order to obey AA’s “no relationships for your first year of sobriety” rule. Their chemistry is palpable, and it grounds the show’s stakes, heightening what a relapse would mean as it would reset the clock on their wait to be together.
Equally interesting is Samantha’s rebuilding of her relationship with former best friend Brit (Sasha Compère), who is now engaged to Samantha’s ex-boyfriend. The two performances line up well: two complicated women in an ever-shifting power dynamic. The show wisely sidelines the bland man they once fought over and instead focuses on how these women have a rare connection, and an ability to see through each other’s artifice. The dynamic between Olivia and her wife proves less weighty but similarly delightful, as they navigate Olivia over-extending herself with her devotion to her sponsees and an IVF journey. It’s a refreshing change of pace to see a queer couple with such unadulterated adoration for one another (and their ludicrously huge cat).
The show works less well when it goes for broader comic strokes. A St. Patrick’s Day episode (apparently, “St. Patrick’s day is The Purge for sober people”) has some strange subplots and surreal flourishes that are as unfunny as they are jarring. And while Sheedy is always a delightful presence, many of her plot lines feel extraneous, including some low-stakes book club shenanigans. Her relationship with her boyfriend (played with signature enthusiasm by Ian Gomez) is perfectly pleasant to watch, but aside from some brief allusions to missing her late husband and misunderstanding the nature of alcoholism, she isn’t given a real arc. By the end, the character feels underserved.
But the arc for Samantha is fully and beautifully realized right up until the final episode’s credits roll. Some episodes provide us with flashbacks to see exactly how much of a drunken disaster she was, and we also get to dive deep into her unresolved grief over her father’s death and the toxicity of the New York media world to which she longs to return. Black-D’Elia delivers a phenomenal performance across every episode and obstacle—from the insecurities of writing without alcohol, to the exhaustion of sobriety-induced insomnia, to the frustration of being incredibly horny and in the presence of Garrick Bernard’s abs. She creates a central protagonist that’s raw and sensitive with a razor-sharp wit. Samantha’s smallest victories, including a tiny but sober paycheck and turning down a bridal shop glass of champagne, feel like fully earned triumphs. By the final episodes, we’ve moved far from the “single drunk female” slurring at her boss: While Black-D’Elia’s drunk acting is always welcome, it’s just as joyful to see her as the person Samantha evolves into.
50 Comments
Luckily, across the board, the drunk acting in Single Drunk Female falls into the latter category. Lucky that they’re hammy rather than “incredible”? Maybe you intended to write “the former”.
Beat me to it. I realize they don’t have editors anymore, but at least re-read your own work before hitting “post.”
I’m only one man
I’m sure I speak for the full commentariat in saying we appreciate your efforts fighting the tides.
Thanks, mate. It makes me feel like I’m doing something. This site used to be my favorite thing in the world
That would make the most sense— but reading the description of the ensuing humorous scene, I think “hammy” is accurate. Still makes the lead sentence confusing, as it is implying that one is better than the other.This is also at odds of what a generally high-functioning alcoholic is, they do not offer the telltale signs of being drunk or let it interfere with daily life, hence the “high-functioning” aspect of it. This show seems like it’s just about general alcoholism, but HFA is its own beast.
The Mick was a good show, should have lasted longer
I have been waiting for Sofia Black-D’Elia to turn up in something else since The Mick ended (with her in a coma, an all time terrible cliffhanger ending as far as I am concerned). Possibly the most incredible thing about The Mick to me was that she held her own acting opposite Kaitlin Olsen, possibly the best sitcom actress alive
Julia Louis-Dreyfus would like a word. But otherwise, yes.I’ve been waiting for Olsen’s “Bob’s Burgers” character to make a return someday.
Can you imagine if prime Elaine and that gangly, uncoordinated bird made a show?
I’ve been waiting for Olsen’s “Bob’s Burgers” character to make a return someday.She did return once, but it wasn’t as fun as the first time. They were in an apartment building her dead husband owned searching for something… I forget the details.
Ahhh … right!
She was really good in the last season of of Skins. I thought she would be big from then.
It’s definitely a nominee for a good show canceled inexplicably by lame networks. I like to call it being Happy Ended
I always thought it was strange that two Always Sunny actors got their own shows that were both “This person who should not be in charge of kids is now in charge of kids.”
Inspired by “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby”.
Absolute riot of a shot. I loved it, and I thought Sofia Black-D’Elia was fantastic. Still wild that since it was canceled, THAT is the way her character’s story ended. I mean, hilarious but also damn, bleak.
I’m still waiting for Jimmy to turn up at Paddy’s.
It was fucking hilarious. Tragic that it went, especially gross that it was part of Fox axing a swathe of single cams in order to rescue the totally worthless and unfunny Last Man Standing.
I thought the show about a woman with high-functioning alcoholism rebuilding her life would be the Big Bang Theory spin-off The Penny Show.
…The Flight Attendant? or was that the joke already
I didn’t see that. Perhaps it is.
It very much is so, among the lead character’s other poor life choices.
Producers; “congratulations, you’re the lead actress in our sitcom!”Actress:”that’s great! What network will it be in? NBC? HBO?”Producers: “it’s on Freeform!”Actress; “that’s a network?”
Freeform: We play other seasons of The Simpsons when FXX is mired in the awful ones.
Ally Sheedy? Are you all just saying random words?No but in all seriousness, this looks promising. And I miss The Mick.
Ally Sheedy also played the protagonist’s mom in Little Sister:http://www.avclub.com/review/slight-and-sweet-little-sister-scores-one-weirdos-244021
I think it’s great that somebody hasn’t forgot about her
I thought for sure the Mikkleson / Grant comparison was going to balance with a mention of the worst drunk acting of all-time – namely, Marina Sirtis’ Drunk Deanna Troi in Star Trek: First Contact. That’s junior high school drama club level acting right there.
I’m not sure whether it was Troi was such an awfully written character, but she didn’t play sober Deanna that much better.Shoulda taken some lessons from John Dunsworth!
Well, when you start talking about John Dunsworth, you’re getting into “greatest drunk actor* who ever lived” territory.*As in “actor great at acting like he’s drunk” not actor who is a drunk, obviously.
I love her; she was great in The Mick. I’ll definitely be watching.
The advertisements for this show really try to make it look like alcoholism is… cute, or something, and apparently everyone else’s fault except for the lead role’s (OMG, her mother acts like everyone else’s mother, what hell that was, have a drink). How is the show in reality?
I mean the whole thing is kinda cute but the there’s still depression, withdrawal cysts and a whole lot of public vomiting.
Thanks. I will see if I can filter out the cute.
I haven’t seen the show but playing something dark or tragic for laughs is kind of a staple of TV and film.
Yeah. I would lose interest if they play a false version of the bad parts, though, for this particular topic.
Is she wearing sexy miniskirts and being self reliant?
this is a good reference, friend.
They’re all I’ve really got left.
Only when she’s not having lots of sex.
so glad to see she’s starring in something!! truly RIP The Mick, forever in our hearts. i’ll definitely be checking this out!
I’ll check this show out, but kinda bummed it’s another addiction show centered around AA. There are so many more readily available recovery models nowadays, especially ones geared more towards women, and it would be nice to see something different. But I’ll watch it before I judge it.
“Drunk acting is hard to do. For every incredible Mads Mikkelsen in or Richard E. Grant in , there’s an actor hamming it up— swaying from side to side and slurring every other word. Luckily, across the board, the drunk acting in Single Drunk Female falls into the latter category.”Shouldn’t it be the former category?
Luckily, across the board, the drunk acting in Single Drunk Female falls into the latter category.You mean former, right? The first category, not the second? Does nobody edit these things?
I can’t be everywhere at once
Well, nor should you be, as a volunteer – they should be PAYING someone to do that 😛
This shows why the name change was on point. It has gone far and away from ABC Family.
One of the best episodes of The Mick:
I still say the best episode was the one where 3 guys were courting Mickey at the same time, and she ended up fleeing naked on a bike with Jimmy saying “that’s my girl”.