Review: Imaginary Mary “The Parent-y Trap”

We may have the recipe for a good show right here.

Spoilers Below

You know what’s a good recipe for a decent episode of Imaginary Mary? NO MARY! Seriously, this week’s episode she maybe, at best, has a page of dialogue. Granted, none of the said dialogue is any good, and most of Mary’s lines come in as an amateur color commentator, but when there isn’t any Mary which is a lot of the case in this episode, you get a good show!

This week’s episode sees Andy try out for the school’s adaptation of Grease and while his dad doesn’t want him to try out due to getting an earful of bitching later, Mary agrees to help Andy prepare for not just ANY role in Grease, but for the lead role! Dora wants nothing to do with the play and instead begins producing her own take on Grease that’s supposed to be more feminist. And yes, while Andy doesn’t get the school gig, he’s first to lead in his sister’s act much to the delight of Mary who may have experienced her first bout of being “Parent-y”.

Our Take

Again, a really great episode. With Mary out of the way, we get a fun little deviation from a familiar trope. While most shows would take you TO the audition and probably introduce some sort of competition for Andy, Imaginary Mary did a great job of sticking to its guns and seeing the experience from the parents’ point-of-view. Erica Tremblay’s “Bunny” continues to offer cute, stuffed animal-like bombs of silliness, even if her father was acting a bit too strong for my taste.

And like every episode of this show’s first season thus far, Jenna Elfman is fabulous and funny and does a great job of showcasing a character trying to straddle that line between being and not being a parent. I think episodes like this might be something to build on for the future if the show gets picked up for a second season. Rename the show, get rid of Mary, and you’ve got a winner.