By Elaine B
Sometime in the mid ’70s, I listened as a pair of bus drivers exchanged ideas about the philosophies of Kant and Camus. It occurred to me that these guys have a job in which they use a bit of brawn (managing a seventies-something bus was not easy) and about half a brain, leaving the other half for deep thoughts. As a budding novelist, it seemed like a great career change. So, armed with the new sexual non-discrimination laws, I went off to the Milwaukee Transit Company’s employment office and applied. The interviewer took one look at my (then) petite body and said, “This is no place for a woman to work.” These days, I would lawyer up in a heartbeat. In those days, still unsure of my place in a man’s world, I just took it.
That interview was on my mind as I watched Tom sitting with the good ole boys who are his supervisors at the airline where he works as they tell him that stewardess Tammy was spreading word of his three-way among the staff. You know how these feminists can get, one tells him. “Am I being fired?” Tom asks. They pause, then laugh. Nope, he’s being promoted and they all salute sexy stewardesses, and life, as they know it, goes on. Unfortunately, this promotion has a downside. Tom will have to spend some nights away from lovely Trina. Expect that to figure into the plotline soon.
The episode – tasteful, thoughtful and with barely a bared bottom in sight – opens with Janet’s erotic dream about Susan, Bruce and their new friends and an apple pie (a nod to the film American Pie?). She wakes with a start as the oven timer goes off and pulls the pie out. Roger comes in and tells her that he’s looking forward to playing bridge that night with Susan and Bruce and that he actually enjoyed the party they attended. Janet, feeling threatened, runs into Susan and then Trina at the grocery store and cancels their bridge plans. Susan tells Trina that their night together was a one-time thing. Trina says she understands, then issues a dinner invitation to Susan. “No Quaaludes, I promise,” she tells her.
But Bruce had a good day of trading and starts partying with the boys at the Playboy Club. Tom is also a member and when Susan comes over to say she has to break their dinner plans, Tom tracks down his key and they all head out to surprise Bruce. He is surprised, happily so, since Susan looks fabulous. They soon run into a couple that knows Tom and Trina. Sylvia is a lawyer who put herself through law school working as a Playboy bunny (and does anything more highlight the ’70s than Gloria Steinem in a Bunny suit?). Husband Brad is a psychologist who has written three books on sexuality. Bruce says what he does. When asked, Susan answers, “I’m just a housewife … and a mother.” Brad launches into a defense of motherhood.
Meanwhile, the kids are not all right. Samantha’s mom is in a full-blown coke-inspired (we assume) meltdown, trying to find a new lover to keep her company. Samantha moves out and sends B.J. a list of things she needs to set up camp in the woods. “My mother has probably got the police out by now,” she tells B.J. hopefully. He replies that her mom doesn’t seem to know she’s missing. Yes, dear girl. You’ve lost both parents – one to divorce, the other to drugs. Samantha does the only thing she can and goes home to stare from her window at B.J. in his while her mother parties in the room below hers. Sam is longing, it seems, for the normalcy of B.J.’s life.
Laurie gets an opportunity to move her grade up a letter by attending an all-female production of Waiting for Godot. Boyfriend Logan offers to go with her and proves what a dunce he really is. Her teacher offers to drive her home but just as her hopes to spend time with him rise, he introduces his girlfriend with her awesome ‘fro. Hopefully, Laurie will find someone who is her intellectual equal – and her age.
Janet invites over the neighbors who moved into Susan and Bruce’s old place but they are opinionated dunces and Roger and B.J. manage to get rid of them. Janet is not amused. “I miss Susan,” she tells Roger. “Then do something about it,” he tells her. She bakes a pie and takes it over in the middle of the night (she’s not merely on amphetamines – I suspect Black Cadillacs), but when Susan, Bruce and the Deckers show up, she bolts.
In the final moments, Susan finds a card from lawyer Sylvia in Bruce’s pocket. It has “see you soon” written on it. Is he up to some covert fun? Divorce? Who knows? Trina brushes a finger over the earring Susan had lost in the bedroom with a longing look. Is it for Susan, or for the children Susan has? She sees Susan in the mirror and the scene beautifully shifts to Susan looking at herself.
As I suspected, Swingtown has turned into a women’s drama – one that is showing even more promise than was evident in the first episode. Unfortunately, those who tuned in expecting more sex, drugs and rock and roll must have been terribly disappointed and will likely start tuning out. But until it’s over, I’ll be watching.
Final thought. Did anyone else notice how different Lana Parilla looked this week compared to last? Was it a lack of makeup? The amount of time between filming the pilot and filming the second episode? I can find no hint of the reason anywhere, but the change was a bit jarring.
