Single Parents - The Beast - Review: The Gang Pursues Their Passions

This week, the gang pursues their passions, Angie with her love of death metal music and desire to learn guitar, and Will with his urgency to rediscover what made him love weather and chasing storms. Plus Douglas gets another chance with Big Red and Poppy tries to find love with a musician!

This week's episode was written by Lamar Woods and directed by Josh Greenbaum.

LADY WEATHER THE FEROCIOUS MISTRESS

This is a great episode for fans of Angie and Will, both if you ship them romantically or just as friends. Leighton and Taran get to have so much fun and in turn, I had just as much fun watching them.

When Angie laments the fact she never got the opportunity to take guitar lessons (since she's apparently a screaming death metal fan) due to having Graham and being a full-time, working, single mother, Will takes it upon himself to sign her up for lessons. But when she goes to attend she gets “mom-shamed”, aka when other single mothers make you feel bad for doing something for yourself and not your kid for once!

This leads to Angie confronting Will about his own passions, if she’s going to have to overcome mom-shaming then he needs to stop hiding in his house tracking storms vicariously over the internet. We learn that Will has an alter ego he calls The Beast, the personality he unleashes in the midst of chasing storms much to the chagrin of poor Glenn. A weatherman who went flying onto a roof a mile away because Will wanted to push forward in the midst of a cyclone for that perfect shot.
Angie tricks Will into going to a storm brewing nearby under the guise of needing his moral support for her guitar lesson. We’re treated to a stellar air guitar/death metal performance by Leighton Meester (seriously she is so great in this episode).

Once they arrive at the eye of the storm, Angie quickly realizes she may have gotten them in some deep water, or mud, in this case. Her minivan may not exactly be equipped to brace a Category 2 storm and they get stuck.

So it’s time for The Beast to return and save them both! Will channels his old, kind of badass, weather hunting self and they push the van free. But before they go back home, WILL NEEDS THAT PERFECT SHOT! In an incredibly funny and adorable scene, Will forces Angie to play the part of a weather-woman, and she’s game, she pretends to be running a report so they can “film” the moment – until they’re interrupted by a flying palm frond.

In Will’s kitchen, they, of course, rewatch the clip of Angie getting whacked by a frond over and over again. Angie points out that they’re kids want them to be happy, so they should be open to pursuing their passions, and they spend the rest of the evening eating burnt brownies (I mean if you cut from the center they’re probably fine, right?) and watching the clip. Super sweet. I know Angie x Will is about as tropish a sitcom ship as you can get but can’t help it. Though I’m totally here for their friendship too especially since Vanessa Bayer is apparently coming on board soon as Will’s ex! So I’m sure the Angie x Will romance, if it’s meant to happen, will be on the back-burner for a while.

THE RETURN OF BIG RED

Remember Big Red? Or Candace, as Douglas finally learns her real name. She makes her return this week. I was so happy to see her, she reminds me of Leah Remini and I find it attractive. Much to Douglas’s chagrin, Candace is more interested in setting up Miggy with her friend Judy.

Can I just say, I truly love how this show is experimenting with all pairings and duos. Poppy and Sophie together, Douglas and Miggy, they shake up dynamics every week, it’s great.

Except, Miggy is still far too hung up on his ex (maybe ex? They’re in the “gray gray”, or the “nay nay” as Douglas calls it), Zara, Jack’s mom, to really date anyone new. Candace and Judy find it sweet and motivate Miggy to go figure things out and tell Zara how feels, once and for all. Thus l
eaving Douglas for a night with Candace, and it seems he’s finally able to sway her to see him as more than the “chipmunk” he spotted on Halloween.

We all know Douglas is a big softie though. When he notices Miggy’s hat, left behind, he can’t help but bail early, even on this dream woman of his, to go check on his friend. Miggy is reeling from Zara’s rejection and Douglas is there for him.

Besides, when he had to ditch Candace early, she batted a glass of wine to the floor “like a cat” and he’s “never loved her more”.

So maybe there’s still hope for him and Big Red, after all. (Plus there’s always Poppy… hint hint, nudge nudge.)

WHEN POPPY MET A SONGWRITER

Poppy has a fairly short and quick storyline this week, but still incredibly funny. I loved the pairing of her and Sophie and their shared bonding over a ludicrous, Downton Abbey-esque television drama.

It's Poppy's turn to watch the kids this week while everyone else is "pursuing their passions" and she finds a passion of her own to pursue in the shape of a handsome young musician she runs into at a cafe.

Sophie and the other kids agree to help her, (so she doesn't become like Lord Chigwell), except by the end of their "makeover" she comes out looking more clown than woman. I would have thought Rory might have taken the lead with this one but they are still 7 after all!

Also, loved Graham's line about how he doesn't give up his slime for just anyone, but for Poppy, of course.

Once she's all dolled up, she goes back to the cafe for some kind of open mic night and talks to him. Except, when he opens his mouth to actually sing a song about hating his mother, dedicated to a woman he met moments before, she catches all the red signs to RUN and fast.

EXTRAS

Performer of the Week: Taran Killam is so charismatic and lovable as Will always but especially as he tries to channel his inner "beast". It was fun to watch Will be more confident and a badass as Angie puts it.

Best Scene: Angie and Will's impromptu weather show. I laughed the whole way through this scene. Angie's imaginary microphone and the fact she jumped in right away, her yelling "I don't know it's YOUR show!", the palm frond, Will unleashing the "Beast", all of it was incredibly funny.

Child of the Week: Sophie. Her helping Poppy get ready for her date and her strange level of maturity (as Poppy points out so she feels comfortable telling her things), she's so endearing. I want to see more of these two together.

Parent of the Week: Angie, for being a good sport with Will and diving into her love of death metal.

ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND FIRST-GRADE PARENT SOCIALS ON AN ALL-NEW EPISODE OF ABC’S SINGLE PARENTS, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 5.