One the surface,”Win or Lose” is story about the Pickles, a co-ed middle school softball team, who make it all the way to the championship, but due to unforeseen circumstances amongst the group, things go awry. The first episode centers around Laurie, and she will be our focus this week. Every week, I will be going back through each of these episodes and breaking them down. I think I’ve watched this series at least three times already (maybe more. Mind your business!).
Poor Laurie. Laurie is Coach Dan’s daughter. Dan and his wife are going through a divorce while Dan is trying to get the Pickles to the championship. The Pickles team is TIGHT! They have the best chance in the world to take it all at the end of the season…except for one thing and that thing is Laurie. I hear you. She’s just a kid and she’s trying. Yup, I heard you. When I first saw Laurie practicing with the team, I said to myself, “She’s going to lose this for us.” (I say “us” because I was and am a Pickle fan.) Laurie should have been the team cheerleader or the water lady. Laurie doesn’t actually want to play softball, but she needs to be on the team–and there is a difference. Laurie is terrible at softball and she’s aware of this. Everyone is aware of this, but she needs the friendships that she’s developed while on the team. I like to think that the relationships she fostered on the team were the reason she was able to get rid of Sweaty.
Sweaty is a manifestation of Laurie’s anxiety, and I can laugh at Sweaty because I’m an adult and I laugh at my overthinking and anxiety all the time. Unlike Anxiety in “Inside Out 2,” Sweaty is more practical. I feel like they wanted Sweaty to be more of a manifestation of Laurie’s inner thoughts and less a projection of her anxiety. Again, a juxtaposition to Anxiety in Riley, but Sweaty is hilarious.
Now, remember I said Laurie’s parents were getting a divorce, and while she seems fine on the outside (whatever that means for this child), I actually think it’s the reason why she’s on the team in the first place. You see, she lives with her mom, and it’s not clear if her mom doesn’t come to the games because of her soon-to-be ex-husband or if she’s a person who doesn’t like to leave the house. But Laurie gets to see her daily. Her dad she gets to see more often because she’s on the softball team he coaches. What I don’t think Laurie has figured out is that she can have those same friends on the team and see her dad but doesn’t have to play. There’s more pressure to be the coach’s kid and it seems that Coach Dan pays more attention to his star players than his daughter. I think she takes this to mean that if she wants that same attention, she has to be great at softball. I think the scene at the end of her episode where she talks to her dad is a crucial point for her for a few reasons. One, it seems like this is the first time her dad truly sees her and realizes that something is wrong, and two, he, kind of, explains why he kept giving her the, “You’ll get em next time.” The only problem with two is she was only trying her best to impress her dad, her teammates, and the unruly fans who came to every game. (Some of those fans did A LOT. It’s a middle school softball game. Calm down.)
At the end of this episode, you don’t see what happens but we’ll circle back when we do. Have you and your kids watched “Win or Lose?” If not, what y’all got on the TV that’s been better? I’ll wait…
