Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage has grown exponentially from its first episodes in relation to its characters. The holdovers from Young Sheldon are adapting to the more conventional sitcom format, and new characters are becoming far more interesting. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of Mandy’s (Emily Osment) brother, Connor (Dougie Baldwin), who began the season as the series’ Sheldon-type.
He became much more interesting and relatable as the season progressed, ever since showing a connection with CeeCee in “A Tire Convention and the Moral High Ground,” and with the introduction of his girlfriend, Chloe (Kara Arena), a character that took time to connect with has become someone we’re invested in going forward in Season 2. But Season 1 has not done one particular character any favors, and she needs to be salvaged with a better storyline in Season 2. That character is Mandy’s mom, Audrey (Rachel Bay Jones).
Audrey McAllister Has Been Problematic Since ‘Young Sheldon’
Will Rogers, the esteemed actor and humorous social commentator, once said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That first impression of Audrey McAllister occurs with her introduction in the Season 6 episode “A Tougher Nut and a Note on File,” and it’s not pretty. When Mandy and Georgie (Montana Jordan) go to The Medford Corner Grill, they meet Audrey and Jim (Will Sasso), Mandy’s parents, and while Jim is pleasant and genuinely happy to see Mandy, Audrey gives her daughter the bitterly cold shoulder. Georgie, ever the peacemaker, goes to the tire shop, hoping to talk to them. He and Jim get along fabulously, but Audrey is flat-out hostile, which leads to a heated confrontation between Mandy and her mom. Those initial encounters, and the revelation that Jim is afraid to help Mandy in any way lest it lead to divorce, give a first impression that paints Audrey as simply a bit… ditch. One scraggy ass ditch.
It simply doesn’t get any better from there for Audrey. Her interactions with Mandy are cold, the ones with Mary Cooper (Zoe Perry) are unpleasant and fraught with tension. She’s sharply critical, when she’s not being passive-aggressive, about how CeeCee is being raised, and, in “Baptists, Catholics, and an Attempted Drowning,” she disregards Mandy’s wishes and gets CeeCee baptized in the Catholic Church (although, to be fair, Mary started it by having her baptized as a Baptist, also behind Mandy’s back). Arguably, the only kind act Audrey performs through to the end of the series is making a casserole for Mary after hearing about George Cooper Sr.’s (Lance Barber) death and attending the memorial service. Rogers may have been right about not getting a second chance for a first impression, but Audrey literally did get one when Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage was greenlit as a series, yet somehow she made a worse second first impression.
Audrey Remains Unlikable Through to the ‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’ Season 1 Finale
Hopes that Audrey might be softer with Georgie, Mandy, and baby CeeCee in the home are dashed pretty quickly in that opening episode of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Audrey makes no pretenses about her disdain for Georgie, calling him – not insinuating – dumb and uninspired. She also clearly favors Connor, and makes no effort at even disavowing it. An offering from Mandy to accompany her to CeeCee’s doctor’s appointment, meant as a fresh start, ends as it always does, with Audrey unable, or unwilling, to speak kindly about Georgie, leading to Mandy storming out at the earliest convenience.
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The Season 1 finale just aired on CBS.
It’s not that there haven’t been instances where Audrey has shown a less hostile personality. In the aforementioned “A Tire Convention and the Moral High Ground” episode, Audrey reveals a fun, less-uptight and almost playful side to herself on a night out drinking with Mandy. It’s in these moments that we get teased about why Audrey is the way she is, knowing personally just how having children at such a young age can derail one’s dreams, but her unwillingness to do anything about whatever resentments she has surrounding such issues and blinding herself to how negatively it impacts those close to her is, in a word, selfish.
Arguably, Audrey is at her ugliest in “Ladies Love Brunch,” the episode that had Mary invited over to share in a Mother’s Day brunch at the McAllister home. Audrey is less than impressed that Mary is joining them, saying, “What better Mother’s Day gift for her [Mary] than to ruin mine?” The episode also marks the first time Audrey meets Chloe, and in that smug, off-putting fashion, she asks Chloe questions within seconds of being introduced about if her family is Catholic, and if she’s a Republican, questions that lead one to suspect that the first seemingly innocuous question about what Chloe’s surname is has a deeper, more judgmental purpose. It comes to a head when, at brunch, Audrey sees red as Mary engages in a pleasant conversation with Chloe, and, in what is a low-point even by her standards, snidely quips about why Missy (Raegan Revord) isn’t at Mother’s Day brunch with her, despite knowing the circumstances.
Audrey Needs Some Degree of Redemption in Season 2 of ‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’
The fact that the character of Audrey McAllister is so unlikable doesn’t fall on the talented Rachel Bay Jones, who has committed to her onscreen personality as she was intended by the creative team to be. Audrey McAllister, as a character, wouldn’t even be the first unlikable character in a sitcom. But even a character like, say, Carroll O’Connor‘s iconic Archie Bunker, who it can safely be said has little to no redeeming qualities whatsoever, has something instilled in his character that keeps him from being rejected outright by viewers over the years, so it is possible to have a disagreeable character that can be accepted.
What Audrey needs is a better storyline in Season 2, and now that Jim has retired and will be home more often in Season 2, perhaps that’s exactly what the character needs. Potentially, it provides plot points that allow for Audrey to soften, to be less caustic. The new season also provides opportunity for Audrey to be supportive, especially with Georgie and Mandy’s relationship at its most fragile. Really, anything that shows that Audrey has a heart, apart from the scattering of times we’ve seen it shine in the series’ first season, would give us as viewers something positive to hold onto about her. So even when she invariably retreats back to the Audrey we know now – a leopard doesn’t change its spots overnight – we would at least know that there is someone who truly does care about those in her circle inside, as opposed to second-guessing if those times are ploys to a more self-serving end.