‘Single Drunk Female’ Recap: ‘Sober for the D and V’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Single Drunk Female’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Something that is truly fascinating and unfortunate about our modern world, is how we simply gloss over the healing process. Because when we start the road to recovery from an important moment in our lives, we’re just… expected to feel better. As though somehow, we wake up one day and we feel better and our lives are better, and what makes that both fascinating and unfortunate is the sheer fact that such a mantra glosses over some important steps. The kind that can shock us when we encounter the realities and work that go into recovery. For instance, if it is a physical injury or major surgery, we’re in recovery for… there’s a lot of physical therapy and hard work involved in healing and that process can be daunting and stressful.
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From a psychological standpoint, there are a bevy of steps and surprises that come into healing our minds, especially for former addicts that are now in recovery. Because their minds and their bodies are hyper focused on the next fix or the next drink, so to be without that for an extended period of time, forces the person in recovery to really assess their needs and how they are going to function in life without those substances, and that can be quite the harrowing and unsettling experience since it is akin to re-learning parts of life that they thought they had down, and that difficult journey is top of mind today, because it served as the central exploration of this week’s episode of Single Drunk Female.

For when we catch up with Sam Fink in ‘Sober for the D and V’, she’s in the midst of dealing with quite the epiphany. Because now that she’s been sober for 180 days and her body and mind aren’t focused upon her next drink… she’s starting to drift toward other needs. Because she’s been in a dry spell for some time and her sexual appetite is growing and well… that brings about some problems for Sam. In that, she is also aware of the fact that 180 days ago, she could easily hook up with someone without giving it a second thought. For liquid courage was running through her veins and she could use its power to help her connect with someone.  

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But without alcohol’s magic powers, she hadn’t a clue as to how to properly relate to people or really initiate contact or express her wants and needs romantically and sexually and that led to some awkward moments for certain. Because every attempt she made to be intimate with someone in this tale, ended in the most awkward way imaginable. After all, James slammed that door hard when she attempted to open it, leaving quite the sting upon her soul. Not to mention, her Tinder coffee date ended in a horrifically embarrassing manner when her beau to be… blasted a vodka filled belch her way, and well… all these setbacks left her wondering if by chance she’d ever rediscover the romantic mojo she once had when alcohol dominated her life.
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Which is where growth came into play for Sam once again. Because all of these ‘failures’ were humbling experiences for Sam and forced her to lower her guard and her belief that she had to be a certain type of person or put on a certain type of show to find romance and once she came to that point and was her authentic self, she managed to get what she needed in that moment and well… that capped quite the powerful exploration. Because all comedy and quirky moments aside, that really was a wonderful way to encapsulate the central theme to this story since it truly put on display how difficult it can be for a person to find their way back to the world from a recovery standpoint, when substances drove a person's day and behaviors, and it was equally as amazing to see Sam face such a roadblock to her recovery in a brave manner, since it also speaks to her growth as a character.

If anything, this is just another fine example of how revolutionary this show really is. Because as mentioned before, this is a process we simply don’t talk about and leave to therapists and other professionals when in fact, we should be discussing such matters more often so that people in need of guidance don't feel isolated or awkward about the tough steps that lie ahead in recovery. But what matters more, is that this series continues to make it clear that it is going to leave no stone unturned when it comes to what the road to recovery looks like for a recovering alcoholic and that really compels one to continue this journey, so we can learn some powerful lessons about an aspect of the human condition... that languishes in darkness far too often. Until next time.   

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