'Avocado Toast The Series' sheds the ageism around Molly and Elle's parents' queer relationships
Spoilers for 'Avocado Toast The Series' Season 1
Molly (Heidi Lynch) and Elle (Perrie Voss) are two childhood friends whose lives get a little dramatic after they discover more about their parents' sex life.
When Molly comes out to her mother Meredith (Mag Ruffman) as a bisexual, she is very scandalized to find out that her parents have been in a polyamorous marriage and have been swingers for a long time now. So much so that she literally runs from that conversation.
So does Elle when she finds out that her mother Patricia (Brenda Robins) is dating a man young enough to be her son. Molly and Elle run into Patricia and Hunter (Scott Cavalheiro) in canoodling in a back alley, and Elle's immediate response is to run. Following this, it's not like they have any better a response to their parents' lifestyle choice and relationships.
Throughout the season, Molly and Elle hadn't exactly tried to understand their parents. They had simply retired to a strict idea of their parents and when that was disrupted, they resorted to stay mad at them.
In fact so much so that Elle tries to sabotage Patricia's relationship with Hunter. But that is saved from doom with Meredith and Francis' (Jefferson Mappin) meddling.
In the eighth episode of the series, in a heartfelt conversation the two mothers share with each other as they are smoking a joint, they open up about the prejudices they have been facing from their daughters.
Meredith rues how the disgust she saw on Molly's face was akin to ones that others have given her after finding out about her polyamorous relationship - calling her "cruel". This judgment seems rich coming from Molly who has been conscious about judgment about her own bisexuality.
At the same time, Patricia laments over the fact that Elle has made her feel like she is a bad mother because she started dating someone so much younger than her. She points out how she tried to work it out with Roger for years until it simply wasn't happening and the split was imminent.
There is a strong point Patricia makes with a joke - should they sacrifice all their life for the sake of their children - all their happiness and the potential for it for their kids. "Two ninety year old go to a divorce lawyer and the lawyer says, 'why did you wait so long? You're almost at the end of your lives'. And the couple says we wanted to wait until the kids are dead."
Having lived through most of their lives working hard and providing for their kids, this time in their lives is really the only time that they can just simply live without any strings.
What's all the more saddening is that there are chances that both Molly and Elle might not have behaved/ reacted in this same way if it were some other women and not their mothers.
Through Patricia and Meredith, the show sheds the prejudice that older women have to face when it comes to relationships in the second innings of their lives. Not abiding by the conventional rules set for them is not easy, but Patricia and Meredith do it without a care in the world. And maybe everyone should take the chance.
'Avocado Toast The Series' is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.