Feel Good Season 1 Episode 1 Recap – Episode 1

Mae arrives in the Gag Bin, a comedy club where she regularly does her comedy acts. She notices a girl in the audience, George, who has been there before. She goes on with her act and then calls out Binky, George’s friend, for not even looking up and instead staring at her phone while Mae speaks on stage. After the act, George talks to Jared and tells him how she enjoyed Mae’s act. Jared excuses himself to retrieve some Tupperware, and Binky comes and tells George that she hates comedy. She tells George that Mae was so rude for calling her out. She also tells George that she told Jared that George fancies her. George does not like this, but Binky tells her she did it because she hasn’t been with anyone since Andrew, and 5 years have already passed. Binky tells her that they should go, but George tells her that she’d just walk her way home, so Binky leaves with Jared.

Instead of going home, George orders a drink. Backstage, Nick tells Mae that her stuff is bad, but George keeps laughing at her jokes, so she should talk to her. Mae tells him she shouldn’t because she’s out of her league. Their conversation gets interrupted when Goerge approaches Mae. She says she just came to say sorry about Binky, who was playing Candy Crush during Mae’s whole act. Mae and George end up at a table, taking turns asking and answering each other’s questions. They conclude that they are actually on a date. Geroge tells Mae that she is the first girl she ever dated. George asks Mae if she likes to kiss her, and when Mae says yes, she tells her to do it at that exact moment. Mae kisses George. After the kiss, George kisses Mae, and they end up in George’s flat. They were making out when they get interrupted by Phil, George’s flatmate.

George and Mae go upstairs to do their business. That night turned into days and turned into months until George asks Mae to move in with her. The day after Mae moved in, Mae gives George a moving-in present: a portrait of Geroge that she has painted. George tells her that it is a masterpiece and that she’s sorry because she wasn’t able to get Mae a gift. Mae tells her that she doesn’t need a gift when she can make love to George every day. Geroge tells Mae that everything is new to her, including someone making love to her.

Mae asks George if they can invite some of her friends so she can meet her, but George tells her no because they have a work meeting that night, even though it is a Saturday. Mae hears an upcoming Skype call and tells George that it’s her parents, so she should come and meet them. Mae answers and Linda’s face come up on the screen. She asks them how cohabitation is, and they have different answers. They tell George that it’s outrageous that they haven’t met her yet. Mae tells them that they need to chill because they’ve only just been in a relationship for three months.

Linda tells Mae that they have been wondering if she has found a new Narcotics Anonymous meeting. “A what meeting?” Geroge shockingly asks. Mae runs to the bathroom with her laptop. While locked up there, Mae tells her mom to stop bringing up the past. She says she’s been busy moving in with George and that she has been having trouble sleeping, which is why she did not have the time to look for a new meeting. Her mom reveals to her that she is four weeks premature, which might explain why she cannot sleep lately.

Mae and George go to Ikea. George cannot stop talking about the fact that Mae is a Narcotics Anonymous. Mae tells her that she’s been sober for a long time already and that she doesn’t even want to talk about it anymore. She tells George that there are also things about her that she didn’t know when she moved in with her as well. George tells Mae that she loves her, so she should find a meeting so she can relax.

Mae goes into her first meeting. She tells the group that she doesn’t think she really needs to be in that meeting. She says she has been clean for a long time already and that her real problem is that she is very premature. She runs to the exit, and a woman from the group follows her. The woman asks her if she’d like to have coffee. Mae tells her that she loves coffee. The woman introduces herself and says that her name is Maggie.

The two of them go to a nearby coffee shop, where Maggie tells Mae to put her past into a box and flush that box down the toilet. She also tells Mae that she should keep busy so she can fi her brain. She says that if you’re too busy, then you wouldn’t have time to think of drugs. Mae asks her if she has kids, and Maggie tells her that she has hobbies – she bakes, kayaks weaves, and runs. She boasts that she’s been clean for 12 years.

George rants Phil about how someone so clean and fresh can be an ex-junkie. Phile tells her that it is obvious because her legs are always moving, and her eyes are spooky. George tells Phil that it is not that obvious to her because she is not from Hollywood like him. Phil advises her to make Mae feel safer, perhaps by making their place more Canadian.

Back in the cafe, Mae asks Maggie to be her sponsor, saying that if they hang out, then it will be as good as attending the meetings themselves.

Mae tells George that she’s not going back to the meeting, and this does not sit well with George. She tells her she’s such a rebel, but Mae says that she has got a sponsor. George tells her that she needs to admit that she has a problem. “I had a problem, and now I have you,” Mae defensively says. However, George tells her that she cannot just have her because she does not just have her – she has her work and her friends. Mae sighs, so George asks her what the matter is. Mae asks her why she has never met any of her friends, and she tells her that she will introduce her when she’s ready.

Mae tells George that maybe, she didn’t tell her about her drug problem because she didn’t think she’ll get it. Goerge tells her that she might get it if she’ll just explains, but she does not, so she is left with no other choice than to go through her stuff. “You went through my stuff?” Mae asks. George admits this and mentions what she learned about Mae from what she read.

Mae takes her box of stuff and empties it into a tin bucket. Without thinking twice, she lights it up on fire. “New me. New life.”, Mae announces as she tries to hold back tears. George tells her that that is what every junkie says. Mae gets lost for words as she cries into a pillow. George says sorry and leaves.

Mae goes to the bar and waits for her turn to do her act. While waiting, she sees Nick snorting coke. Nick motions for her to have some, but before she can even react, Jack grabs her from behind and asks her what she thinks of his new gimmick.

George goes into a karaoke get-together with Binky and their other friends. Jared sits beside her and tells her his ham story. When he finishes, she tells him that she’s seeing someone named Jonathan Crenshaw.

Mae walks home, and when she gets there, she sees that George is already in their room. Mae asks her what she wants to know. “Everything.”, George responds. With her hands covering her face, Mae then proceeds to tell her story: She got addicted to coke when she was a kid, and her parents kicked her out. She sold drugs, overdosed, and went to jail.

George says okay, so Mae asks her if there is anything else they should talk about, like why she hasn’t told her friends about her. George tells her to go down on her, and she does. Later that night, while George is already sleeping, Mae receives a text from Maggie telling her that she is weaving a jumper on her loom for Mae.

Our Thoughts

This episode shows how Mae struggles to come to terms with her past. While it is understandable to worry about your self-image when you have just started a relationship, I believe that honesty is a very important factor in the success and longevity of every relationship. That being said, not telling George that she is a recovering alcoholic even after 3 months of being together is really disappointing. Plus, the fact that Mae tries to avoid conversations about it is also a red flag. On the other hand, we can see that Mae is really trying hard to be sober, so she might be already working hard on it that she is not able to deal with trying to avoid being an addict again and explain things to George as well.

Speaking of honesty, being new to dating girls can be overwhelming, so George not telling her friends that she is dating Mae right away is acceptable, but pretending to be dating a man with a made-up name is going over the line. Well, it might just be me, but Jonathan Crenshaw is just too much.