As the first episode of Somebody Somewhere begins, Sam (Bridget Everett) grabs a paper and sits down to begin filling it out. The woman in charge says Joel (Jeff Hiller) is going to be supervising Krista’s team while she is in recovery. Larry’s team will be meeting in the annex this afternoon. Seconds later, Sam oddly drinks water from the nearby water dispenser. After she returns to her table, she begins working again. However, it doesn’t take long for her to start crying. Joel watches as Sam storms out of the Excellence Standardized Test Grading Center. Joel follows her out to make sure she is okay. Sam says she was reading the essay from a little girl who helped her sister take her training wheel off her bike. It wasn’t even that sad, but it managed to do the trick.

Joe admits it happens. Sam reveals she lost her sister six months ago so that likely had something to do with the crying. He knows about Holly since they went to school and did show choir together. She pretends she recognized him although he knows otherwise. He offers to tell Irma (Meighan Gerachis) she has diarrhea so she can take off the rest of the day. They laugh at the idea that the diarrhea made her cry. Since that would be too silly, Joel says he’ll think of something. Sam leaves. As she drives down the street, she notices a sign about the Showgirls book signing with local author Kayleigh Normandin. As she gets food, she talks to Randy or Ran-Dog (Joe Dempsey) about Kayleigh writing a good. Everyone is freaking out because the book is about their high school years.

Randy hopes it won’t include anything about his DUI, but he doesn’t think Kayleigh knew anyway. He gives her a broken muffin before she does grocery shopping. On her way out, she calls Shannon (Kailey Albus) to ask if her mother is home. Before Tricia grabs the phone, Sam gives Shannon permission to come over and look at Holly’s clothes. She asks Tricia why she didn’t tell her about the book. Tricia says she didn’t really care. The call quickly ends and Sam realizes she can’t get her truck’s door open only to find out it isn’t actually her truck. Later that night, Shannon comes over to look at Holly’s clothes. While she is there, she asks Sam about moving into Holly’s room. Sam admits she is used to the couch. They find Manic Panic hair dye and contemplate doing Shannon’s tips because her mom would kill her otherwise.

Then, they look at clothes and an old yearbook with a picture of Sam as a swimmer. She flips the page and notices a picture of the show choir. Sam quickly notices Joel in the picture with her and calls herself a dick. She takes the book with her to work the next day to show Joel. They joke about her appearance and other things. Another man walks over and hands Joel something before walking away immediately. Joel tells Sam that they go to the same church together and he is a pianist there. He asks if she misses singing and performing. Once she says no, Joel says he loved watching her sing because she was so joyful. They laugh about the time Sam was picked to do a Peter Gabriel duet and it ticked off Kayleigh. The conversation turns to her book signing despite the fact that she got in trouble multiple times for plagiarism in high school.

We jump forward as Joel rushes out of the book signing to show Sam the autograph he got. They flip through the pages to see if Sam is in there somewhere. Joel finds her in there, but he isn’t eager to tell her what it says about her. Sam reads it, begins laughing, and says she is honored to be in it. She calls the book a piece of crap. Joel asks if she likes having her high school trauma memorialized in a bad self-published memoir. Surprisingly, Sam says yes. They wonder whether it should be called a book since it is only 60 some pages long. Later, Sam visits her mother, Mary Jo (Jane Brody), and Tricia. They didn’t think she was coming so they decided to eat without her. She sits with Rick (Danny McCarthy) who is playing video games and calls him a dick. Shannon comes over and sits next to Sam who says her hair looks awesome. Sam is warned not to let her mother see her hands.

Sam’s mom walks into the screen door not realizing someone has closed it. As a result, her shirt is covered by her drink. Tricia follows Sam downstairs to tell her Shannon has yearbook pictures next week. Sam thinks she looks cool, but Tricia is more concerned about the cost of fixing her daughter’s hair. Tricia doesn’t like it when Sam recommends taking it easier on her since she is a kid. She goes on to say Shannon is a good kid, but Tricia doesn’t think she should be giving anyone advice on anything. When Tricia asks her what she is doing with her life, Sam says she came home to help Holly when nobody else wanted to. Tricia says that was only one year before asking what she was doing for the 10 to 15 years before that in Lawrence.

Tricia believes she is trying to make Shannon her new Holly and she isn’t going to let that happen. She complains about Sam giving her daughter Holly’s gay t-shirts and dyeing her hair. Sam doesn’t like her talking about their sister that way, but Tricia says love the sinner and hate the sin. Rick yells to ask Tricia what he should eat. Once she gives him a recommendation, Sam says there she is. Sam joins her father outside where he is shooting arrows at a target. Sam wonders if they should talk to mom again. He isn’t sure she’ll listen and agrees it has been a crappy year. Once Sam takes the bow, her father tells her about running into Coach Spence who asked about her singing and how she was doing. Sam says to tell them she misses Holly so much. Sam isn’t sure where she belongs although her father says it is nice to have her home.

At work, Todd (John Charles Bell) says it is difficult for him to read essays about kids using drugs and having a lot of sex. Sam gets tired of hearing it, tells them to shut up, and rushes out of the room. Joel corners her because Irma said he had to talk to her. He admits he doesn’t care though. Joel asks what she is doing tonight. He invites her to his choir practice which is just a thing he does. He tells her about Faith Presbyterian which is a church in the mall although Sam claims not to be a church person. Joel says it is fun so he thinks she’d really like it. Sam goes to the pool and dives in for a few laps. She stops and watches a group of women laugh and have fun before leaving. Sam goes to the church in the mall where she finds people hanging out and spiking the drink bowl. Joel is surprised she came and gives her flowers and instructions where to place them.

He calls it choir practice because that is what the church gave him keys for although it isn’t officially sanctioned. Fred Rococo (Murray Hill) begins speaking to the crowd and welcomes them to the fourth ever choir practice. Joel yells out that today is about choosing the right way before he is invited on stage to play the piano. As he plays, Fred begins talking about those two making it to this church in the eighth biggest town in Kansas. Seconds later, she invites Irma to the stage to perform for everyone. After that, Sam joins Joel backstage and he introduces her to Michael (Jon Hudson Odom). Tiffani (Mercedes White) says she loves this although she is a bit creeped out about being in a church. Despite being excluded and all the screwed-up stuff he experienced, Joel still finds comfort at the church.

Fred joins them and is quickly introduced to Sam. Then, Michael asks Sam what the book said. They talk about the book being called Showgirls while Sam says it contained a bunch of made-up crap about her. They push until Sam reveals the book contains a stupid rumor Kayleigh made up about her sucking on tampons. She is positive nobody does that although Fred believes someone somewhere might. Joel says they called Sam Sampire. Although Sam doesn’t want to be called that, Joel thinks she should take the word back and own it. Later, Sam watches as Joel dances with Michael and invites her over. Then, Fred takes the microphone to say it feels good to be with everyone in Manhattan, Kansas.

Sam is surprised when Rick enters the church although he quickly leaves. Michael reads some stolen moments from his sister’s diary. Joel says one of his favorite singers is here tonight. He invites Sampire up on the stage, but Sam says no. Everyone chants Sampire until Sam finally takes the stage. She begins singing after saying she hasn’t done this in a long time. When she begins crying on stage, Joel sings for her. Once the song finishes, the crowd cheers. The episode ends seconds later.

 

Somebody Somewhere Review

While Somebody Somewhere seems to have promise, I can’t understand what it wants to be or what it is trying to achieve. I just don’t understand it or see the message it is trying to deliver. I also didn’t find the jokes particularly funny, but I suppose some might. I’d like to see how this show progresses although I wish it would take a more serious approach to the subject.

It needs to slow down a bit and quit jumping all over the place from one second to the next. Regardless, I think it is too early to say this is spectacular or terrible. It is a good idea to give it a few more episodes to see if things start coming together. The opening episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Somebody Somewhere will be available on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.