As the sixth episode of Somebody Somewhere begins, Fred Rococo (Murray Hill) is shown working the field with his students. Sam (Bridget Everett) works next to Joel (Jeff Hiller) who leans over and says he feels like being bad so he suggests going to Freddie’s for milkshakes for lunch. Sam is going to work through it because Monica (Annie Munch) has been riding her butt and she has to leave early for her mom’s thing. Sam recommends eating with Michael (Jon Hudson Odom), but Joel breaks the news that they broke up last night. He insists he is good and they were just in different places. Sam agrees to go to Freddie’s with him although Monica interrupts before they can leave. She takes Sam into the conference room for a performance review.

Sam is stunned to learn she is in the top ten percentile and has been killing it. Monica says she can stay in testing, keep her numbers up, and become a team leader in like three years. Alternatively, she can move to IT. It is a lateral move right now although there is room for growth. Sam stops paying attention as Monica tells her more about her options. When Sam returns to reality, she realizes she wants to quit so she tells Monica. She thanks Monica before leaving. When Joel finds out, he is worried it is going to get so bleak around there and he won’t have anyone to go to lunch with. He complains about Chase (Rammel Chan) who loves dinosaurs at 30 and Lydia because her nose pops every time she chews. He yells that he doesn’t like any of these people since they’re so boring. Joann (Christine Bunuan) has to tell him to keep it down because people can hear him.

He tells her to butt out. Sam promises it is going to be good and she’ll text him after her mom’s thing. She makes him smile although he looks like he is going to cry when she leaves. Sam meets with Ed (Mike Hagerty) who asks if she had any trouble getting out of work early. She didn’t. Since they haven’t heard from Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison), Sam decides to send her a quick text. Ed spills another guest’s coffee just before Tricia enters. Ed leans over and asks the woman if she has a drunk in her family too. Joel gets something from the vending machine while Irma (Meighan Gerachis) talks to Monica nearby. He sees Michael and the others sitting down, but he decides to sit alone. Before the therapy session with Mary Jo (Jane Brody) begins, the therapist (Tim Mason) offers everyone a homemade caramel.

He says Mary has been working hard so she is ready for the next step, an honest family dialogue. The therapist tries to get Ed to describe how he is feeling being here, but he doesn’t think it matters. He says you just got to push your head down and deal with things. The therapist insists feelings are like a pressure cooker where you have to relieve the pressure or you’ll eventually explode before thanking Ed for getting it started. Mary Jo says Tricia is the pretty one. Tricia says she doesn’t feel much of anything because she is numb. That causes Mary to laugh and call her the dramatic one too. An angry Tricia gets real while saying she used to dread coming home from school because she never knew what she’d encounter. She didn’t know which Mary they’d get and their father always agreed with her regardless.

Sam says the caramels are delicious. Once she manages to clear her mouth, she admits she is glad her mother is here and working hard, but she doesn’t think she’ll change. Her mother has gotten sober before and started drinking again. Sam and Tricia are angry when they learn their mother told the therapist nothing about Holly. As they yell at Mary, she compares herself to her mother who was allegedly much worse. Mary screams that they shouldn’t blame her for everything in their lives before exiting the room. Ed is adamant they need to keep trying since they don’t have any other choice. Back at work, Irma opens a filing cabinet and leaves it open. When Todd comes rushing by, he trips and crashes to the ground. Joel can’t help but laugh. Irma sternly asks what is funny about a man getting hurt and leaves.

Joel checks on Todd and returns to laughing. Later, Joel and Sam laugh together when he tells her about it and admits this is why he needs her at work with him. Sam knows he is shunned right now. She recommends picking one person to be very nice to, but she isn’t sure who because she doesn’t know any of their names. When Joel asks what she is going to do, Sam reveals she intends to sit down and write out her five-year plan. Joel begins laughing until he learns she is serious. Meanwhile, Fred offers Ed advice such as growing cover crops in one area. He insists it is something good to think about for the future although Ed says it is hard to think about the future when you’re hanging onto the present. Ed apologizes for leaving early yesterday for family stuff. Fred says it is okay since family should come first.

Ed confesses he hasn’t always put his family first. He doesn’t always express himself and tends to keep things to himself. Ed knows all of that has to change. Fred reminds him that he can only start from where he is. When Fred learns about Mary Jo being in rehab because of her drinking, he admits it is difficult for both of them. He says it is going to be okay. Charity (Heidi Johanningmeier) arrives at the store and learns Tricia sorted out an order that had a few missing items. When a customer enters with a return, she notices the pillows that say “lying cunt” and “queen bee”. She asks if they’re for sale. Charity isn’t sure what to say so Tricia blurts out yes. The customer buys it. Joel sits in his car eating chips but tries to hide when Michael walks by. Michael walks over to see what is going on.

Joel pretends he had to retrieve a chip he dropped on the floor. Michael has some of his stuff that he wants to give back to him. While loading it into Joel’s car, Michael knows this is difficult for Joel especially since Sam quit her job. Joel says it is okay before Michael reveals he bought a refurbished Vitamix for him as a Christmas gift. Joel asks if he can open it now or if that would be too fast. Michael offers to let Joel pull up a chair to their table during lunch if he wants. Joel claims he is listening to music though. They say Merry Christmas before we jump back to Tricia’s store. Charity knows this is awkward, but they’re adults with fiscal responsibilities. Tricia says her fiscal responsibilities are to her clients since she is a hooker and hoe.

Charity argues that the insults aren’t going to help even though Tricia says they’re helping her. Tricia reminds Charity that she was a best friend and she doesn’t have many friends. She asks her to leave her store, but Charity claims the store is hers since she handled everything when Shannon was little. Tricia wants to buy her out. Coop (Josh Bywater) is allowed inside so he can use the bathroom. Tricia realizes Coop doesn’t know so Charity insists she has nothing to gain from telling him. Charity begins crying as she says telling Coop will crush him, but Tricia intends to tell him when he comes out of the bathroom anyway. She will only keep the secret if Charity agrees to be a silent partner. Charity complains that she is extorting her. Coop comes out seconds later as Tricia asks if he wants to hear something amazing.

Charity interrupts and pretends it has something to do with cedar. Once Coop leaves, Charity tells her to take it and it is all hers now. As she walks away, she calls it unbelievable. Next, Sam prepares to sit down and write her 5-year plan when she finds one of her old notebooks. She looks through the notebook and begins singing some of the old songs she wrote as a kid. After a few silly songs, she finds something that changes her mood. Holly’s Song is written at the top of the page while a few lines have been marked through. Sam goes out to the garage where she finds a CD for her vocal demos. She grabs her boombox and goes to the cemetery to visit Holly’s grave. When she arrives, she sees that the headstone is missing besides a small plastic one and the grass there has died. She doesn’t want to sit down and talk to a plastic headstone while saying she screwed up over and over.

She sits down before telling Holly she is sorry she couldn’t play these for her because she knows how much she wanted to hear them. Sam is going to play them for her now. When the groundskeeper (Don Forston) shows up, Sam asks him about the headstone. He explains he has been trying to get the mother to finalize the order for months now. Although he calls and sends emails, she never answers him. Sam curses her mother for that. She tells Holly that she deserves more than this. She apologizes as she leaves the cemetery. Sam goes to the rehab to get Mary to pack her bags because being in here is only a waste of time and money. Mary complains that she only came home to dump her in here. Sam argues that her mother isn’t even trying, but Mary says she is. She goes off on her mother for not telling the therapist about Holly and not paying for her headstone.

Mary says she can’t talk about her because it is too hard. Sam reminds her it is hard for all of them. Her mother confesses she sits around here thinking about how she messed up with all her girls. Sam reminds her how she would sing to them to make them feel better when they’d get upset as kids. She sings to her mother as the episode ends.

 

Somebody Somewhere Review

It took a while, but I’ve really started enjoying each episode of Somebody Somewhere. I wish the series wasn’t released weekly since it is only thirty minutes. Regardless, this is one of the few shows I actually look forward to watching each week. It has a good mix of humor and emotion. While I didn’t find the first few episodes that funny, the last few have been better in this area.

It really took me some time to get accustomed to the characters and possibly even the humor. Viewers willing to stick with this will likely enjoy it. The series is beginning starting to dig into the impact Holly’s death had on Sam and her loved ones. While it tends to be subtle, it handles this topic very well. In fact, the way it is done could be more realistic since most people don’t openly discuss these issues.

I am glad the series has already been renewed for another season because there are so many storylines to explore with Sam, Joel, Fed, and the others. This episode scores a 7.5 out of 10. Recaps of Somebody Somewhere can be found here. Find out how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.