‘A League of Their Own’ Recap: ‘The Cut Off’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘A League of Their Own’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One of the best aspects of our modern world, is the sheer fact that we can chase after any goal we want to achieve in life.  At least, when it comes to career path and dreams. Simply because there are so many options available to us now in breaking into our desired career field. It just takes a little creativity and ingenuity to make it happen and it really is quite wonderful to know that people from all walks of life can break into something special with a little gusto and determination. But what’s amazing… is that this is something we kind of take for granted. For it wasn’t always like this, in fact, not that long ago… women for instance… had little chance of garnering what they wanted in life, just because of their gender. 

For women were viewed as inferior by a vast majority of people, even during World War II, where the war effort would have failed without women working in factories or say… keeping the nation entertained with baseball. Granted, there are still challenges akin to this present for women today, but nothing as ugly as it was back in the day, and the fight to be heard and the push to have their wants fulfilled is top of mind today, because it was put on full display in the next episode of A League of Their Own on Prime Video. For when we catch up with everyone in ‘The Cut Off’, they’re eager to accomplish certain goals… that the world works to deny them. For Max, that involved getting a job at the plant, and of course… there was a grand push to not hire any Black women at the plant, keeping her far away from a chance at exercising her talent and for the Peaches… they just wanted to win a game.

Because Dove held minimal practices with the team and was pushing Lupe to pitch way more than she should. Giving rise to a last place finish and worry from the team that they were going nowhere fast and might be drummed out of the league for better players. Which in turn, motivated Carson and Max… to get creative to get what they needed out of life at a time where they were being shut down and ignored as often as possible. In Max’s case, just showing up at the right time and spending time with the right people in the plant got her one step closer to finally playing ball, but that came with a sacrifice of course. Since she wasn’t getting that much sleep and had to work to figure out how to balance two jobs. But she did her best, to chase her real dream, and she wasn’t the only one that suffered for her personal cause.

Because Carson and the team… figured out how to get practice time in. Because they learned if they went to bed crazy late and woke early to practice and improve… they had a genuine shot at honing their skills and winning a game. A thought that eventually became a reality since they did manage to get some wins on the season. But alas, the friction that Coach Porter and Lupe created with the team because he truly viewed her as his protégé, despite treating her like crap… brought consequences abound for Carson and the team. All because she dared to say something and challenge an ‘all-knowing’ man. Which was annoying to say the least, but she eventually got the right digs in and hopefully Coach Porter will finally listen since this team needs a spark and he certainly isn’t providing it.

But what matters more here, is that this was another incredible look into life in 1943, and it truly gave us a powerful understanding of how women were truly viewed back in the day and how poorly they were treated and how hard they had to work to achieve something as simple as respect much less chase a dream. When in fact, both Max and Carson helped to remind us, that women are equals and able to do what anyone else can, provided of course a measure of respect is sent their way. And kudos to the show for taking the time to point this out and show us what has and hasn’t changed once again, and for also taking a little time to address Carson’s sexuality and her need to explore it to really feel free and understand who she is. Because that’s critical in this era to put on screen since it reflects the world and well… all this brilliant episode does, is once again demand that we continue the journey post haste, to see what other stunning commentary awaits us as the season continues along. Until next time.

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