‘Mom’ Meeting: What Christy’s Concussion Interruptions Were Really About

Christy sustains minor injuries from a car accident, but ‘Mom’ dips back into Bonnie’s bickering with Adam’s ex-wife and Jill’s motherhood mess.

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If anyone happens to be handing out breaks, Mom’s Christy could really live to be a cut a break or two. Not only has she been involved in a car accident, but an event which should be about her becomes everything but. In last week’s meeting, I asked Mom to give Christy an A-story, just throw her in the driver’s seat of the narrative. Well, they put her in the driver’s seat, and her car ran out of gas. What a metaphor.

Adam offers Christy a ride to the bistro, but on the way, they collide with another car and sustain minor injuries. You might be thinking, “Hey, look. Christy’s in the A-story, she’s concussed and in bed eating soup!” Mom baited and switched me. The episode soon became less about Christy’s car accident and more about Bonnie’s rage about being neither Christy nor Adam’s emergency contact. If we’re being honest, we’d all be ticked if our daughter and boyfriend chose other people as their emergency contacts, but that doesn’t mean Bonnie should pull a Marnie from Girls and make the entire collision about her.

To give credit where credit’s due, Bonnie does dote on Christy hand and foot after the accident… until she bails to check on Adam. But she’s not there to check on Adam as much as she’s making sure his ex-wife Danielle (the lovely Wendie Malick returning as guest star) doesn’t swoop in for the kill. Danielle feeds Adam martinis with painkillers, the Karen Walker special, which very clearly seems like she had something planned. The encounter results in overt threats, drunken piggish comments from Adam, and Danielle throwing Bonnie to the ground.

While Bonnie attends to her battle for the boyfriend, Jill plays nurse for Christy, calling it practice for when she fosters a child of her own. Again, Christy’s car accident devolves away from being about her and becomes about Jill’s concerns about motherhood. Jill worries that she isn’t cut out for motherhood after the “tedious” and “icky” task of caring for Christy. Hate to break it to you Jill, but Christy told you that two arcs ago and you didn’t speak to her for three episodes. What’s different now?

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

The biggest and most blinding scenario in all of Christy’s car accident drama (or lack thereof) belongs to the glaring absence of her children. Why didn’t Violet and Roscoe rush to their mother’s side? Why wasn’t it at least briefly mentioned why they couldn’t? Listen, the altered and expanded scope of Mom’s world mines incredible stories about women, addiction, and varied experiences with motherhood. But could we see Christy’s experience with motherhood once in a while?

In place of a retreaded trope of an ex-wife and current girlfriend fighting over a guy (literally), Christy dealing with a parenting crisis in the wake of her own personal health crisis would have been one hell of an education for Jill. Although, the bit with Christy unwittingly tucking Jill into bed while calming her fears for impending parenthood was downright hilarious, if not one more reminder that we need to see Christy parent again.

Next: Can Christy Please Get an 'A' Story in 'Mom' Sometime in Season 4?

Looking ahead to the remaining episodes of Season 4, it’s safe to predict that some form of forward momentum will take place with Bonnie’s relationship with Adam. Depending on Bonnie’s reaction to Danielle’s tackling, we could be hearing wedding bells. Also, Jill will undoubtedly get the call to foster a child, and to bring it full circle, she’ll ask for Christy’s help despite her initial reservations. And maybe that’s the story Mom’s telling: In the midst of her concussion interruptions, she remained the rock, the moral center, the mom.

What did you think of the latest episode? Sound off in the comments!

Mom airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.