‘A League of Their Own’ Recap: ‘Back Footed’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘A League of Their Own’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular aspect of life that we are all aware exists, is that our journey functions akin to a story. For it is complete with different chapters and roles as we grow older and evolve and that is something that we outright celebrate, and rightfully so. Because it means the human experience is always exciting and always changing, preventing stagnation through continual growth, but what’s fascinating about this aspect of our lives… is that despite how we speak to its wonder, such change can be downright terrifying when it arrives. Simply because there are rarely signs that change is coming, and we aren’t oft prepared to deal with all it entails. If anything, that struggle is top of mind today, simply because it, and the struggles that accompany it, were featured in the next episode of A League of Their Own on Prime Video.

A feat that ‘Back Footed’ accomplished by having great change come into Carson and Max’s lives. For Max… that entailed figuring out her place in the world and her sexuality, quite frankly. Because it was obvious to her after some training sessions with Carson that maybe baseball wasn’t for her anymore. Since she genuinely struggled with that dark day and what baseball meant to her. And of course, attempts to be intimate with men, didn’t satisfy her in the slightest. Prompting her to really focus on tomorrow and how she was going to adjust to the major change coming her way and that wasn’t easy. Because she truly felt lost in this tale and unsure of what comes next, and that’s quite the realistic response to major change in our lives and it will be interesting to see what becomes of Max as season one rolls along.

As for Carson, well her big change involved a coaching decision. In that, she was now the de facto skipper. Because the fallout from the fist fight caused all kinds of trouble and prompted Mister Baker to select her as coach to create unity, and well… while she loved the sport and knew its ins and outs so well, being a coach, a genuine leader of women… was new territory for her and a scary and disastrous change early on. Because everyone was pushing to have things their way, and Lou was of course, fighting her at every single turn, even becoming downright insubordinate when it suited her. Leaving her to wonder how she could reach this team and her new girlfriend for that matter as well, since she too was pulling away. All of which reinforced the reality of how painful change can be.

But as this series is wont to do, it went beyond just pointing out how tough change can be. It offered us solutions on how we adjust. Since Max came to realize, that embracing her authentic self is the key to adjusting to this new chapter in her life, and Carson, came to realize that leadership involves understanding and humility. Because the team had to trust her and she had to trust them and help them to grow and succeed, and eventually she did just that and experienced wonders. For Lou finally fell in line when Carson figured out how to reach her, and the team responded nicely to her new attitude and approach. All because Carson took a moment to look at her situation objectively, which allowed for her to find a new way forward in this new chapter.

Which made this quite the uplifting and educational tale, one that was also quite progressive in nature as well. Since we also came to learn that Max’s Aunt Bertie, is transgender, and is living as Uncle Bertie since they came to understand their authentic self through and through, regardless of personal cost. And what makes this progressive, is that we don’t see enough transgender individuals in television or film, much less in stories set in 1943. But transgender individuals were around back then as well, they simply were not seen and kudos to this show for pointing that out and ensuring that proper representation was present here, and well… now that we’ve reached the end of this chapter, it’s onto the next one, to see how Carson settles in as coach and to see where Max’s journey of discovery takes us next.

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