'Jennifer Falls' Recap: 'Pilot'

TV Land's Jennifer Falls is off to a good start judging from the premiere last night. If you didn't tune in, here's what you missed.


Image via Twitter from #JenniferFalls

Jennifer Doyle feels like she's on top of the world when she walks to her meeting with her boss, Don. Her voice-over details her hopes to be Senior Vice President at the company. Meanwhile, Don and his business partner, Clay are discussing firing her because "half her clients won't work with her." She enters, ready to hear good news, but they inform her she's being fired for her anger issues. Security and Connie from HR arrive, so Jennifer can leave quietly. As she leaves, the men talk about how easy it was to fire her, making Jennifer turn around and tell them how she really feels about them. She goes to leave again, but returns to tell Don they carpooled. Don remembers it's Tuesday, but Jennifer offers to take a cab home. He offers her a ride home anyway, since she's on the way.

It’s six months later, and Jennifer is talking to the audience in her living room while movers are carrying items out of her house. She talks about how she now realizes blackballing is a real thing. She has a positive attitude when she speaks about not finding a job. She looks at the movers before getting up off the couch, so they can move it out of her house. She sits on the floor and looks up to see the ‘Jennifer Falls’ logo appear above her head.

Jennifer is loading a moving van with everything she and her daughter, Gretchen have. Gretchen asks if they lost everything. Jennifer responds with a reminder that they have lots of debt due to spending money they didn’t have. She’s on the phone with her mom, Maggie at the same time. Gretchen is not happy, while Jennifer hopes her mother is not throwing a party.

Cut to her mother’s house where we see that Maggie is throwing a party. A stunned Jennifer carries a box with a pillow on top inside the house. Jennifer is upset her mother threw a party, but it’s just close friends and family with a mariachi band. She’s not in a party mood, but Maggie offers to get her a margarita. Jennifer protests, but decides she wants her margarita with no salt.

Jennifer is direct addressing the audience again by showing her margarita glass with salt on the rim. We see her outside talking with her sister-in-law, Stephanie, whom she does not like. Stephanie reminds her of everything she’s lost, which prompts Jennifer to want to speak with her brother, Wayne alone. They talk about her new living arrangements, which makes him offer her a job as a bartender in his sports bar. She accepts, making him enjoy the idea that he gets to be her boss. They talk some more while Jennifer is swinging a bat at the piñata. She unleashes her anger on it when Wayne talks about her problems. The children look scared when she keeps hitting the piñata even after the its been broken.

Jennifer enters the house the next day, thanking her mom for letting her move back in. Maggie informs her that her best friend, Dina is still around but doesn’t want to see her. Jennifer wants to know why, but it’s not Maggie’s place to say.

Jennifer enters the bar in her uniform, ready to work. Stephanie enjoys the fact that Jennifer used to babysit her, and now she’s her boss. She attempts to show her how to pour a draft of beer, but Jennifer brushes her off saying she worked for a Fortune 500 company so she can pour a beer. Stephanie leaves, and Jennifer pours a draft for a guy, but it comes out mostly with foam. Jennifer leans over as the guy makes a statement about the girls being here. Jennifer shames him for making a crude joke about her outfit before seeing two girls come up to him. The guy informs her that they are his daughters, making Jennifer embarrassed.

Wayne goes to Jennifer and compares working at the bar to their father’s den. Jennifer asks Wayne for an advance on her paycheck, since she promised to take Gretchen shopping. He says to ask Stephanie, who offers her advice as a learning experience for Jennifer. She claims that she and Wayne save their money by not spending money they don’t have. Jennifer takes Wayne aside and calmly asks Wayne how to talk to Stephanie without stabbing her in the eye with an icepick. Wayne says that he pictures her naked, which won’t work for Jennifer. She plays nice with Stephanie, and heeds her advice.

Jennifer sees Dina at the bar, and they share a hug. They seem friendly, but it gets awkward as soon as Dina attempts to leave. Jennifer wants to know why she’s so upset, but Dina rubs her off saying if she doesn’t know, then that’s the problem.

She later goes to see her mom, so she could take Gretchen shopping, since she has an interview. She writes Maggie a check, leading to an argument about how she needs therapy. Maggie offers to see her for free, since she can’t afford a therapist. Jennifer states that her mother doesn’t listen to her.

Jennifer is ridiculed at her interview when a couple of women make fun of her for losing her Fortune 500 job. The interviewer makes her realize she has a job working for her brother, while having a place to live at her mom’s. She leaves before they can make fun of her any more.

She shows up for her shift at the bar late, prompting Stephanie to offer her advice again. Jennifer brushes her off again. Wayne tells her to deliver the beers to Dina’s table. Jennifer goes to the table to wait on the girls, all while trying to get Dina to confess why she’s so mad at her. Dina tries to run away from the bar, but Jennifer catches up to her, even throwing herself on top of her car. She eventually gets inside Dina’s car through the window, and the two talk about how much Jennifer changed while she was at her six-figure salary job. Dina wanted her best friend when she was going through her divorce, but instead, she sent her a gift certificate. Jennifer apologizes and they make up. Stephanie intrudes on their conversation by reminding her of the bar policy involving taking breaks. As she walks away, Jennifer and Dina talk about a hit and run involving Stephanie, and they smile. Jennifer vows to win Dina over.

Jennifer goes back to the bar and successfully slides a beer down the bar with the help from the guy earlier. She direct addresses the audience once more about how she’s gone from big money to minimum wage. She and Gretchen are about to have a moment at home, before Maggie intrudes. She shows Gretchen pictures of a girl who she thinks is Jennifer from Friendship camp, but it’s Angela Schwartz.

I found this episode to be quite funny with Jennifer's relationships with different people, particularly Stephanie. Next week's episode should be good when Jennifer runs into some old friends at a health club. Talk about awkward.

Quote of the Week: “You know nothing about it, I didn’t ask you, so of course it’s your business.” - Jennifer when Stephanie offers her more advice.

What did you think of the premiere episode? Let me know in the comments!

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