Christy and Bonnie are shocked when they discover how prison has changed their friend, Regina.
It should come as no surprise that Mom would invite Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer back to the show after the cancellation of her FOX dramedy Red Band Society. Regina is simply a character that Mom enjoys having around in its universe. Sure, she hasn't been mentioned once since Christy, Bonnie and Marjorie said goodbye as she entered prison. But why shouldn't she still be a part of this world? The show hasn't always known how to best utilize the character. In this episode, she has a pretty drastic change to just being the crazy religious black lady stereotype. But I understand why the show is doing what they are doing with the character.It is a tad surprising that religion hasn't come up before on Mom. The show loves showing the brutally honest realities of life. Life can suck sometimes. As Christy and Bonnie explain to Marjorie, this has been a tumultuous year for them. Violet gave her baby up for adoption. Christy gambled away the family's financials and made them homeless for a little while. As soon as they started getting on their feet again, Alvin died. The family is still trying to deal with and move on from his death. Things are starting to look up again. Christy was promoted to manager at the restaurant and Bonnie became secretary of her support group.
Never during any of these low points did the Plunkett family turn to religion or prayer to get through it. For a lot of people, that's a strong force that helps them deal with the struggle. Regina was only able to survive through her prison stint while remaining sober because she suddenly found religion. Sure, the story of what happened to her once she got there was over-the-top. She simply started praying again and saw his love and results immediately. That's not typically how faith works. It's not really a quick fix to life's many problems. It's just something that helps people feel like they are being heard and watched over. They can't explain why stuff happens in this world.
Bonnie actively hates how Regina is just flinging religion in her face. I can't say I blame her either. It's horrible for Regina to say that Alvin dead because God has a plan and that he is now in a better place. For Bonnie, that's devastating. There couldn't possibly be anything better for him than the future they were planning to have together. Bonnie isn't denying her faith but the way she sees things spiritually is different than the way Regina does now. Regina is basically suffocating everyone around her with her prayers. She's driving both Bonnie and Marjorie insane. They are happy for their friend but don't want to constantly be around her.
And then, everything starts going their way once they finally embrace the expression of faith that Regina is selling to them. Christy goes to church with Regina to support her as a friend. And then, she gets too invested in the whole experience. Marjorie prays that Regina will find a new job and a new place to stay soon. And then, she gets a job bookkeeping somewhere and Jill invites her to move into her mansion. Everything starts going well for all the people involved and the only thing that has changed is the way they embrace religion. Bonnie is right there with the rest of them at church singing along hoping for some happiness and clarity to come her way.
It miraculously works too. In the final scene, Bonnie has a dream with Jesus where he explains that Alvin's journey in life was over but she still has work to do with her family. It's a message that her subconscious sends her in order to make some sense of what has happened. It's exactly what she needed to hear. Not some generic thing from a person who didn't even know Alvin. She's not going to suddenly become a better person to either her friends or family. But it's nice to see her hug Christy in the very end. She does have immense love for her daughter and is so proud of her. Yes, they both frequently make mistakes. But they are also glad to have the other in their lives again. This hug just shows the compassion between them.
Some more thoughts:
- "Dirty Money and a Woman Named Mike" was directed by Ted Wass with story by Chuck Lorre & Sheldon Bull and teleplay by Nick Bakay & Alissa Neubauer.
- So much of this episode felt too good to be true. I was skeptical throughout but I'm sorta glad there wasn't a big twist in the end. It's not the most nuanced take on spirituality and religion but at least it's addressing the subject.
- I had forgotten that Christy was suppose to be holding Regina's money for her. So, it makes since that she gambled that away too.
- I didn't really need to see Baxter and Candace stopping by the house to pick up Roscoe. It was all just set up so she could learn that Baxter once spent time in jail and then we never see the fallout of it.
- Violet is also just acting like a teenager. Curious as to when Christy and Bonnie will be home. At least Bonnie is smart enough to know what she's really thinking about.
- I'm just so glad that Mom can show a scene featuring Anna Faris, Allison Janney, Mimi Kennedy, Jaime Pressly and Octavia Spencer talking about life.
- Okay, what did dream Jesus almost spoil about Bonnie's future?
