'Work In Progress' Episode 3: We will most likely see Abby change her mind about Julia Sweeney
SNL veteran Julia Sweeney has a significant role to play in Abby’s life, mostly because Abby has been traumatized by Julia's iconic character sketch of Pat. For the uninitiated, Pat is an androgynous individual whose "confused sexuality" was made to look funny on the comedy show.
Despite being enough, Pat became synonymous with "queers", at least in its time. For people like Abby, it became rather difficult to express themselves or come out without being compared to Pat, especially in a generation, when alternative sexuality was still a huge social stigma.
Also, when there is a popular television character with a comical take on homosexuals and queers, it is bound to set precedence for the society, making people look at women like Abby with definite disrespect.
And this had made life hard for Abby, or as she explains in Episode 1. But right at that time, she is face to face with Julia Sweeney. Not knowing how to react, Abby almost faints, possibly with shock, awe, and frustration at the same time.
The woman she had despised all her life is right there in front of her, in flesh and blood, and yet, she is charming and graceful at the same time.
Julia even explains why and how her sketches were not intended to offend anyone’s sentiment or even belittle people like Abby. She extends her social graces by inviting Abby and Chris for a homely dinner and talk more about Abby’s life and be friends.
Abby, as we have seen so far, has difficulty establishing social connect. Call it her intense insecurity about herself as a mid-forties, single woman, or the way the society has looked at her almost all her life, she has become highly cynical.
Of course, until Chris walks into her life and gives her a fresh take on her life. In fact, Chris is the one who initiates the interaction between Abby and Julia at the restaurant where they go for their first date.
Had it not been for Chris, Abby would have probably never approached Julia and voiced herself and her disappointment towards Julia’s SNL character.
Nor would Julia have known about Abby's struggles. This confrontation leads to the promise of a more in-depth conversation between the two when Abby and Chris go for dinner at Julia’s.
Looking at how warm and charming Julia is, we can only hope that the conversation is likely to take a positive turn. You can definitely expect some arguments from Abby’s side, which is obvious, considering she has a lot to unload on the woman whose comical character turned out to be a curse for her.
But in the end, we believe that Julia and Abby will have a very strong social relationship, which will have a great impact on Abby's personality and her evolution from where she stands today. And what’s more? Wait for a surprise guest star playing the role of Julia’s husband.
Watch the trailer of Episode 3 for a peek into what could happen when Chris and Abby go to meet Julia and her husband for dinner.
‘Work In Progress’ Season 1 airs every Sunday at 11 pm only on Showtime.