‘Mom’ Meeting: Can Christy Please Get An ‘A’ Story Sometime In Season 4?

Wendie Malick guest stars on a quiet episode of ‘Mom’ that reminds us Christy has fallen in the depths of Bonnie and Adam’s shadow. What’s a girl gotta do to get an “A” story around here?

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If you’ve never watched Mom and happened to catch a recent episode in Season 4, you might think the sitcom was about Allison Janney’s Bonnie and her continued efforts to navigate her complicated relationship with Adam. Well, it’s not. Bonnie and Adam’s up and downs as a couple has simply been the story arc without end.

Mom last devoted the entire A story to Christy in Episode 11, when Faris’ husband Chris Pratt guest starred as a one-off love interest. And before that, Christy and Jill tangled themselves up in a feud regarding Jill’s decision to become a mother. But we haven’t spent relatively any time in Season 4 exploring Christy’s title as “mom” or joining her at school or work. Not to sound like a total Marjorie, but Christy hasn’t dated much. Her awkward dates always mined great comedy between the family drama. So, why has Christy been relegated to another voice of reason in a choir of confidantes at their meetings?

When Bonnie finally receives the reconciliation text she’s been waiting for from Adam, she’s none too pleased to learn that Adam hasn’t divorced his ex-wife, Danielle (guest star Wendie Malick). Naturally, Bonnie spirals upon learning Adam and Danielle will meet for lunch, prompting Bonnie do some illegal recon. Off camera, Bonnie breaks into Danielle’s home to use the bathroom, though she makes an English muffin while she’s there. Later, they exchange words and end up respecting each other in that weird, villainous way.

In all of this, Christy fades into the background as a reactor to the madness. She vocalizes her concerns that Bonnie could drink again if she continues to allow Adam’s past bother her. In fact, Christy speaks for most viewers tiring of Bonnie and Adam’s consistently rocky road when she admits that the relationship might not be good for Bonnie. While both of these weighty comments should impact the episode more, Christy’s spot-on commentary is left mostly ignored—unlike when she piped up about Jill. But that’s neither here nor there.

Photo Credit: Mom/CBS, Acquired From CBS Press Express

Ultimately, the episode became a touching story about a couple in love rebuilding their relationship in spite of challenges threatening to tear them down. That ending with Bonnie and Adam taking the slowest walk ever with Adam’s elderly dog Samson was no devastating reveal a la This Is Us, but it’s a tender moment Mom does as well as the hard-hitting dramas on TV. Still, the point remains: No matter how engaging and iconic Allison Janney may be as Bonnie, we need more Christy sometime soon in Season 4.

Given the series sticks to its 22-episodes per season order, the seven remaining episodes of Season 4 have some work to do at tying up (and even continuing to unravel) loose ends in Christy’s personal life. What have Violet, Roscoe, and Baxter been up to? Will Christy ever see Nick again? (Yes, I was the one Mom fan who shipped them—call it the Chris Pratt effect.) Can we catch a glimpse at her studies? Anything? Bueller? Bueller?

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One of these weeks, Bonnie and Adam need to sort out their lives enough to hand the A story to Christy and her aces portrayer, Anna Faris. (Seriously, she’s criminally underrated as a performer.) Looking ahead to the next new episode, Christy still finds herself integrated in Bonnie and Adam’s mess, which will also include Wendie Malick reprising her guest starring role. But we can’t let Christy lazily become a boring lead character. When will she and her own set of humorous problems take center stage this season on Mom?

What did you think of the latest episode? Are you wanting more Christy and less Bonnie and Adam? Sound off in the comments!

Mom returns Thursday, March 9 at 9/8c on CBS.