Summary
Mixed-ish’s Arica Himmel guest stars in an uneven episode of Maggie. However, you can still appreciate the funny supporting turns by Chris Elliott and Kerri Kennedy.
This recap of Hulu’s Maggie season 1, episode 5, “You Are Skilled Mentor By Nature,” contains spoilers.
Read the season 1 review of Maggie.
Maggie season 1, episode 5 recap
In the fifth episode of Hulu’s new sitcom, Maggie, the titular character gets her first mentee so she can become a first-time mentor. Arica Himmel (from the unfairly canceled Mixed-ish) guest stars as Abby, a teenager who can see the future. She feels alone, has no friends, and had the same confusion as that girl from that Y2K movie, Mean Girls. Maggie feels connected, and Abbey wants her to be her mentor. However, she does not feel like she is ready yet to take on that role and tells her she will talk to Angel about it.
Meanwhile, I enjoy the comedic turns of Chris Elliott and Kerri Kennedy, who play Jack and Maria, Maggie’s parents. Jack is patient and understanding with his wife. When Maria mentions her friend Gert, Jack has no idea who that is. She critiques him and says she must have mentioned this to him at least five times. He nods and apologizes, saying yes, now he remembers. He then texts Maggie, sitting across the dinner table, to ask, “Who is Gert?” Maggie smiles the way we do at home.
Though this brings up the issue of the tale as old as time — the old mother-daughter conflict. Maggie complains that she needed a therapist because her mom could not handle her daughter being a psychic. Maria makes a fair point about how raising a child like that is not easy because there is no book on the subject. (Now, to be honest, a simple Google search reveals that a book titled Your Psychic Child: How to Raise Intuitive & Spiritually Gifted Kids of All Ages is the most popular choice for raising one). Maria’s additional response is it was not easy parenting a child that would predict her upcoming hot flashes, as she puts it, like the weather report. Jack’s hilarious response? “That was helpful.”
The ending
Later, when talking to Abby, she performs another reading and sees her talking to a boy. It was in the classroom at school. Maggie, though, sees Abby’s teacher walk by, and guess who it is? Her next-door neighbor, Ben. Abby then lets her know that he was the one that referred her to Maggie. She also says she sees Ben and Maggie hanging out in the future, dancing. However, Ben stops by to see Maggie and let her know her tiny teen psychic can no longer see her because her mother disapproves.
The episode ends with Abby getting caught sneaking out to see Maggie. The mother brings her over and tells her daughter’s mentor to stay away from her. Does Maria ask why this woman is yelling at her daughter on her property? She also tells her if she is, Maria just dug a hole, which is big enough for a body. Maggie’s mom deescalates the situation, and after escalating it, by connecting with the enraged woman about how lucky she was as a mother to have people in her daughter’s life when she did not know how to deal with her psychic child. The scene allows Maggie to appreciate her mother when she stands up for her.
What did you think of Hulu’s Maggie season 1, episode 5? Comment below.
