'Funny Woman' Recap: Season 2 Episode 3

Funny Woman airs Sundays at 9:00 pm on WTTW and streaming. Recap the previous and following episodes.
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Barbara has made her film debut – in French, despite not speaking any of the language. Luckily, all she has to do is pout and say “non” as the female lead in Ne Dis Jamais Non (Never Say No). The attention offers an entry to Hollywood, thanks to her new agent, the American Marc Allen, who throws her a party back in London to introduce her to producers after the film’s debut. Her handsome co-star Jean-Paul Solo turns his smoldering looks on her off set as well but she hesitates – until he asks if a relationship with someone back in England is holding her back. She quickly says no and kisses him – and they end up in the tabloids.

Back in London, Bill and Tony try to hide the papers from Dennis, ineffectually. He spots the photo of Barbara and Jean-Paul together right before she returns to continue working with them all on her new sitcom, Just Barbara. She has gifts for them all, including his and hers cognac glasses for Dennis (and, unspoken, Edith, to whom Barbara believes Dennis has returned).

The team is struggling with Just Barbara – and Ted Sargent is regretting bringing them back. He’s ready to pull the plug on the show if they don’t deliver something good soon. But none of the ideas are working, Bill and Tony keep arguing, and Barbara doesn’t like that every pitch is about her character chasing a man. Dennis diagnoses the problem: the character isn’t right for Barbara’s talents. He apologizes for not realizing that sooner.

Barbara’s problems aren’t just at work. When Marge visits her at her friend Pandy’s – she’s staying there after fighting with Marge – to ask her to join a demonstration for equal pay, the two friends fight. Marc wants Barbara to stay apolitical for the sake of her career, while Marge finds Barbara’s complaints about her work and life to be trivial compared to the problems most women face. As they insult each other, they accidentally knock over a lamp and break it.

So Barbara calls Diane to help them find a replacement, which is very expensive. Afterwards, they retire to a pub, Barbara lamely trying to hide her identity behind sunglasses. Greta, the bartender, recognizes her nonetheless, and calls her up to sing a song. Greta and Barbara trade jokes and entertain the crowd. Marge laughs despite herself, and Barbara pulls her and Diane up to dance, apologizing to Marge and receiving an apology in return.

The whole episode gives Barbara a new idea for her show: it should be about her and a female friend. It can show the everyday lives of women that are never seen on TV. Dennis wants to try the idea despite Bill and Tony’s objections – it means throwing out all their work. Barbara appeals to their egos – they could be the first to write such a show – and they agree to the idea.

Barbara brings Greta in to audition, and the bartender immediately endears herself to Bill and Tony by playing a joke on Dennis, pretending she barely knows how to read. Barbara pitches Flat Birds as the title.

Bill and Tony leave her to have some time alone with Dennis at the end of the workday. She tells him that she saw him with Edith after his appearance on Pipesmoke and that she doesn’t begrudge him. She heads home to Pandy’s – and then Dennis shows up at the door. He explains that he’s not with Edith, nor will he ever be again. She responds that she didn’t sleep with Jean-Paul Solo, because she couldn’t get Dennis out of her head. Dennis kisses her and then comes inside to spend the night.

Meanwhile, Bill has tried to pick up a man in a bathroom – and it turned out to be an undercover cop. As Bill is arrested and beaten in the process, he recognizes one of the policemen: Marge’s boyfriend Roger.

Marge kicks Roger out when she finds out, despite her growing attachment to him: he has been kind to her, cooked her dinner, built her a stool. But he lied about his job, because he feared what she would say. He tells her he should have stopped the beating of Bill but wasn’t brave enough. Marge goes and cries alone.

When the team finds out that Bill is in jail, Barbara calls Pandy – she’s a lawyer. She leaves her vacation to get Bill before a judge as soon as possible – he has been denied bail. While she works on the case, Barbara pretends to be Bill to distract Tony and Dennis from the situation, so that Tony can continue to get work done writing the show.

Bill’s only hope is a lenient judge, even though the law criminalizing homosexuality is likely to be changed soon. Barbara appeals to Ted Sargent for help, but he refuses and demands that Barbara stay away from the case, which could stain her reputation. Instead, she announces to him that the show has changed and will now star two women, and then goes to testify on Bill’s behalf in court.

She can’t resist saying more than the simple statement Pandy gave her, talking about personal freedom and arguing that Bill hasn’t hurt anyone except himself. The judge decides not to give Bill any jail time and just levies a fine on him.

But Barbara’s feeling of triumph is short-lived. The newspaper columnist Lynda Jay, whom she met at a party at Pandy’s house, is writing a hit piece on her and has tracked down her estranged mother Gloria. Gloria refused to speak to Lynda, who tells her the story will run either way. Gloria visits Barbara’s father George and aunt Marie in Blackpool to tell them, and then George and she travel to London to see Barbara. They need to talk.