When change happens, it tends to come fast and furious. This week, that was certainly true for Whitney. As much as she has going on, both good and bad, I hope she recognizes who her friends are — because one of her so-called pals is turning out to be a major disappointment.
Babs’ stroke was scary, but it doesn’t seem to have left her too worse for wear. Except for some weakness in one hand and a fluttery eyelid, she seems to be very much herself — which means very demanding.
Of course, Whitney thinks it’s best her mom move in with her after she leaves the hospital, since she has a comfortable bed and an easily-accessed shower.
She also has a sprained ankle and a boot on her foot, which should make her a less-than-wonderful caretaker, but having Babs recover in her own bed wouldn’t be good TV, would it?
Thus, Babs sits miserably in Whitney’s house and honks a clown-car horn when she’s bored, when she’s hungry, when she’s been alone too long, or whenver she wants some camera time.
Whitney gets regularly teary-eyed, but soldiers through on her bad foot. I’m going to suggest a trained professional might have been a nice choice that would have given Babs the help she needs while Whitney put her feet up to recover, but whatever.
If Babs had recovered at home, we wouldn’t have gotten the distinctly unsettling visual of Whitney feeding her while Babs sang the choo-choo train song. So, here’s that.
Unfortunately, playing caretaker wasn’t the only challenge Whitney faced this week. She was so, so excited to go into work to get her review.
She had every reason to be excited, too, because she’s done pretty darn well by the station (and really, who knows this station outside of Greensboro anyway?).
She’s expecting a pat on the head and maybe an actual job offer. Instead, she gets laid off. The contract for the morning show may or may not be renewed, and everything’s in flux, and they love Whitney to death but it’s just business, ya know?
Whitney has so much going on she doesn’t seem as upset as she might have a few weeks ago.
The good news is her brand new pal The Fitness Marshall is dropping by to show her the workout video she did with him.
Of course, if all he wanted to do was show her the video, he would have sent her a Vimeo link instead of traveling to her house. Of course, he has something more important to discuss.
He wants Whitney to come with him on tour, a gig that could last a whole stinkin’ year.
This is great news…
…unless you’re Todd.
Oh, Todd, Todd, Todd. Why Whitney puts up with your petty, jealous behavior I have no idea, but stop it, for crying out loud. He can’t even rally when The Fitness Marshall come over.
He’s disgusted by Whitney lavishing attention on her cat (okay, the cat kissing/sniffing thing was pretty gross).
He thinks the video is terrible and Whitney is terrible in it (of course her movements are small — if he hasn’t noticed, it’s hard for her to get around).
He can’t believe she’d even consider going on tour with The Fitness Marshall — especially because she hasn’t discussed how it might affect him.
Todd is officially the worst.
Even when it’s time for dance class — a dance class he might get to take over — he’s awful.
Todd is furious when Whitney has the audacity to tell him she might want to go on tour, because she tells him this before class and… really, the only reason he’s angry is because she might do something fun without him.
So, of course he does the douchebag thing by telling the entire class about her possible plans — plans she hoped to keep to herself until the time was right.
Todd may have hoped for tears and sobbing, but instead Whitney’s class seems pretty encouraging, as they understand sticking around in Greensboro probably isn’t all that exciting as life plans go. Todd’s attempt to be a horrible ass is thwarted, and I suspect Whitney is growing tired of it.
But then, she has to pass her plan past her dad.
Whitney reveals that she doesn’t see the point in telling her mom about the dance tour, because she knows her mom will encourage her to live her life. Unsurprisingly, her dad says exactly the same thing. Whitney is so going on tour with The Fitness Marshall — and the only person judging her for it is Todd.
Given that so many of the other people in Whitney’s life — Tal, Buddy, her family — seem to want her to follow her dreams and be happy, Todd is starting to stick out like a sore thumb.
If Whitney uses her head, she’ll know trusting the dance studio to Todd is a huge mistake, and she may not even need a friend like him at all. The question is, what will it take to make Whitney give up on this toxic friendship?
My Big Fat Fabulous Life airs Tuesdays at 9/8c.