One Day at a Time Episode 1 Summary + Review

The first episode of the series introduces us to the family. There is the mother Penelope, the daughter Elena, the son Alex, and the grandma Lydia. We discover that Penelope is an Afghanistan veteran separated from her husband. During the episode, she deliberates over whether she should use the antidepressants she was prescribed. Meanwhile, Elena refuses to have a quinceanera because she finds the concept sexist, against her grandma and mother's wishes, which causes a lot of tension and drama in the family. Alex also charges a lot of money to Penelope's credit card buying shoes to seem popular. The end of the episode ties up with Elena agreeing to have a quince so that her mom can prove single moms can pull off anything.

I enjoyed this episode. I think they included a lot of relevant social issues while still being light and funny. For example they were able to include veterans, depression, medication, single moms, divorce, immigration, Latinos, and feminism all in one episode. Most sitcoms do not breach on these topics, so this show sets a precedent and demonstrates to other shows that they can discuss serious issues for shows aimed at youth while still being lighthearted. I enjoyed the characters of the show and found them amusing, I especially liked that it was female dominated. At times it was a little too corny for me, but it was overall good and entertaining.

Resources:
https://nvf.org/veteran-resources/

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/depression-support-and-advocacy

https://www.britannica.com/topic/quinceanera

http://www.pbs.org/latino-americans/media/docs/classroom/en-lesson-plan-stereotypes-vs-statistics.pdf

http://www.pbs.org/latino-americans/media/docs/classroom/en-lesson-plan-stories-of-arrival.pdf

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/hispanic-heritage-month-begins-20293.html

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/immigration-lesson-plan-grades-3-5/

https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/education-teaching-degree/multicultural-students/