Loudermilk is A Show

     Hey! I've been taking it pretty easy in the days working up to our family trip to Buenos Aires for a while, so that's meant I've had a lot of time at home, not really doing much besides hanging out with family. Me and my family, we aren't the sport type, or the dinner party type, but what we always spend the most time together doing is watching TV. I don't care if its a very on-the-nose activity of the average American household, but I really enjoy getting to be comfy on the couch, side-by-side with my parents, sister, and dog, and just watch whatever is on TV nowadays (or at least, whatever is most enticing on the streaming platform we have).

    Since I've been home for about a month, my Mom and sister are still at work/ at school, so I've had a lot of time to kill with my Dad. I've enjoyed just hanging out, learning how to grill/cook, and watching the news and politics on YouTube with him, but we never really had anything to sit down and do as a solid activity for a few hours. So I thought, why not start a show with him? After a few minutes of browsing on Netflix, a preview for the show Loudermilk caught our attention, since it had a dry, sarcastic tone and seemed to be a comedy. We didn't really expect where the show would go... and I don't think the writers did either...

    The premise for the show, at least originally, seemed typical but held promise for some interesting stories: Sam Loudermilk (weird name) is an ex-music critic who now leads a sobriety help group for alcoholics. He lives with his best friend (who is secretly still drinking) and takes on the challenge of helping a teenage girl overcome her addictions to keep his sobriety group in the church. Simple enough, right? I think the show keeps this premise for maybe three or four episodes before it just completely changes the focus of the show.

    Completely randomly, we get introduced to this lower-level businessman, named Tom, with a shitty alcoholic boss with Zero connection to Loudermilk. Tom's boss cons him into attending the sobriety meetings for him, inadvertently getting big buff psycho Cutter to sponsor him, and taking his job way too seriously. At first I was confused as to why the focus of the show shifted so hard onto these two guys instead of pursuing the main cast, but after a few episodes I realized they're a way funnier comedy duo and the story was more compelling than that of Loudermilk and the teenage girl, since she sobered up completely after like three episodes, when it seemed as if that would be the main conflict of the show.

    But just recently we started season 2, and Tom and Cutter have COMPLETELY VANISHED from the show with literally no explanation, only being acknowledged once in passing by the show. So I'm just baffled as to what's going on, and then the show enters a multi-episode arc about some random group member (who is not established previously) who murders a mob boss in defense of the group. Not only is this COMPLETELY OUT OF NOWHERE, but it just didn't fit the show's tone at all- I signed up to watch a show about addiction and dry comedy, not some zany group that does pretty much anything.

    I'm not completely sure how to feel about Loudermilk as a show- while it is entertaining and written semi-competently, the stories, characters, and tone of the show feels like it changes drastically with every episode. It feels like character motivations and plotlines are thrown in a blender and served as a slop every episode- which doesn't necessarily taste bad, but the delivery of the show just feels sloppy. Will I continue to watch the show? Yes! I still like the characters and think they're interesting and funny occasionally- I'm just acutely aware that the show has lots of issues.

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