‘Breeders’ Episode 5 Review: Daisy Haggard wows us with the contrasting shades of Ally Worsley
Defined as a ‘hilarious family comedy series’, ‘Breeders’ does all the justice to its description. At first sight, you do see the quirkiness of day-to-day household drama, the parent-child dynamics, and how a young, middle-class couple tries their best to work through a series of unfortunate events, albeit in the funniest way possible. But what is comedy at the core? It is nothing but a lighter portrayal of the gravest situations of life. Parenting, for instance, could be hard and complicated than one would imagine, or so Paul and Ally Worsley have proved to us, again and again.
There are a million little things in daily life, in a household that needs to be dealt with. Death is one such thing. It’s not little, definitely, but it indeed is a part and parcel of life, even if it is the death of a pet. In the current episode ‘No Dad’, we see the couple trying to downplay the death of their pet gerbil to their son, Luke. From that moment, the mother, Ally’s character starts to strike us. Despite her father insisting on replacing the pet, she takes the road of tough love and tells him how important it is for children to know and understand loss and grief at the very onset of their growth.
Many real-life parents might disagree, but this shows strength of character. A mother is not always supposed to handle their kids with glass gloves; sometimes, she should also present the reality. From here, to the next few minutes, Ally shows a huge change in her persona. So far, we have known her to be like we just said above, a toughie and practical mom. She loves her kids and yet, wants them to see life for the way it is, without sugarcoating the harsh realities of it. And then reality hits her. She loses her estranged father in a sudden, tragic accident.
Being tough and realistic as she is, she finds it difficult to react emotionally to the situation. On the contrary, she bursts into laughter, when the local police bring her the bad news. She even gets irritated when her boss tries to sympathize with her loss. To make matters worse, she finds herself, strangely and awkwardly, sexually aroused post her father’s death. None of these emotions are “normal” for someone who has lost a family member, is it?
Finally, when the family gathers to say bury and say goodbye to the gerbil, Ally breaks down. She finds her ways to express her grief and angst through the loss of the pet (although she never liked the animal). Actor Daisy Haggard deserves a loud applause for this beautiful portrayal of the super contrasts in her character.
From being a practical mother with tough love to a grieving daughter and letting her bottled emotions out, Ally’s character fulfilled a journey of million miles in merely a few minutes. And it wouldn’t have been possible without the brilliant performance of Haggard, who has a wholesome portfolio of playing myriad roles, each remarkable in their own rights.
‘Breeders’ airs every Monday night, 10 PM/9c, only on FX.