The Letdown - S2: the baby became a toddler

Many months have passed since we last saw Audrey (Alison Bell). Stevie is now one year old, and Audrey keeps trying to put her life back together. 

(If you didn’t watch the show yet, consider stopping reading - spoilers ahead.)

Endless work

The sentiment of inadequacy and inferiority continues overwhelming Audrey, but she fights back. We can now see a different Audrey, trying to be more assertive and take control of her life.

However, it's a difficult task, and she is always afraid of others' judgments. In the first episode, you might get caught by surprise when she is worried about what people will going to think about the cutlery she uses in Stevie’s birthday party.

Motherhood seems to be easier for everybody else. It is, from the beginning, the most realistic part of the show. A new mom often feels so overwhelmed that she looks at other mothers and thinks it’s all easier for them.

Abortion

Season one ended with pregnancy news. After so much time (2 years), we almost forgot about it. Last season, I thought that the focus of this one would be the struggle of having two babies instead of one to take care of. It wasn’t.

Audrey had an abortion. Polemics, as it is, the topic is approached in many shows. However, the protagonist of such scenes isn't usually a woman who is already a mother. It is a curious fact since the statistics show that most abortions are performed on women who already have at least one child, making it an excellent choice for the production.

The experience was, as expected, traumatizing for Audrey, who is already so afraid of judgments. She deals with the situation by hiding it and pretending it didn’t happen. Throughout the season, she battles to accept her own decision.

Using her experience to thrive

After one year, Audrey is finally feeling more like herself again. She is starting to think about her life and her goals, beyond little Stevie. She is back to work and back to studying again. 

Everything seems so much harder now, and she, once more, feels inadequate and even old. Her experience, however, is priceless, and Audrey uses it as best she can in her new life.

A reality check

This season ended as well as possible. I love that they ended it like it had started - Audrey losing Stevie out of her sight. A new mom's class begins, the start of a new cycle…

I loved the doctor’s speech at the end of the episode. A little cliche, no doubt, but definitely, summarizes everything. That is how the modern world sees motherhood: it has to be perfect, or it’s shameful. But it’s never perfect, is it?

Overwhelmingly realistic

The show was produced by a woman (2, in fact), and maybe that’s why it feels so realistic from our point of view. 

Most men in the show are just extras or have a very secondary role. That was criticized, but I believe it is another way to show how we can feel alone at this stage of our lives. They are there, somewhere, probably trying to help, but we feel overwhelmed, and we just can’t see them.