Season 1, Episode 9
Date of release: April 21, 2017 (Netflix)
This might have been the most feminist episode of the show so far, and I’m commenting on it, because as I was watching the show, I read a few reviews of it, and those reviews were asking whether GIRLBOSS is a feminist show. I didn’t quite see that throughout the first eight episodes, but now that Sophia is about to move her business into larger halls, with prospected winnings coming up very soon, it’s evident that the story becomes more about a woman running a business, and being stumbled to the ground by egoistic men who don’t trust a woman running a business, and the woman having to learn the hard lesson that she must work twice as hard to be accepted in the business world. To compare it with a real-life story, Hillary Clinton was never taken seriously as a presidential candidate (except for everyone who was wronged by egoistic people, who had to climb over stepping stones their whole life, and those kind of people are a rarity in the world), so of course she was seen as the problematic candidate, even after winning all three debates, even after getting three million more votes — she probably would have been seen as an illegitimate president, if she had won the election by a little less than double the votes Orange Hitler Donald Trump would have gotten, because like Annie said at the end of this episode, women have to work twice as hard to be seen as a leader of a business. Like black people had to work twice as hard to get to a field of work that was dominated by white people before. It was a plot in the third season of ER, when Peter Benton and Dennis Gant had an argument about it. It’s everywhere. It’s not just a story about feminism. And it was part of the narrative in GIRLBOSS, having Sophia face the hardships, making it both a story about feminism, as well as a story about a business newcomer not being trusted with a new business, because the business is run by business-savvy people. It’s like Hollywood hiring an established director for a big-budgeted movie, because nobody trusts a new director who hasn’t worked yet to helm such a project.

This was a pretty good episode. The cold open was funny as hell, although I was a bit surprised that the wine on the blue dress didn’t seem to have an outcome on Sophia’s business for the rest of the episode, as she kind of ruined the sell of one of her dresses, and that could usually mean bad reviews for Sophia, which means Nasty Gal is seeing less revenue for the next few days. It turns out the cold open was just a simple cold open and a joke, and all it did was prepare the viewers to have Sophia move out of her tiny four walls an into bigger space, because by now it’s time to transform Nasty Gal from a sorta hobby to an actual business. One that fills Sophia’s pockets with cash, so she can have sex with Shane on a bed with a bunch of money on it. Every freaking night of her life. After eight episodes, two of them being filler half-hours (one flashback episode, one relationship-heavy episode) when it comes to Nasty Gal, it was about time that the next step was being partaken, and that Sophia would grow from the woman she was in the previous episode to the woman she will be in the next. Hopefully.
I loved that she had to step through the minefield and talk to her father about co-signing a lease, returning Sophia’s story to the daddy issues that have somewhat defined her over the course of the show. I also loved that both sides were given attention in this particular story, with Sophia trying to persuade her father to co-sign the lease, while Jay continues to not trust Sophia and getting into business with her his way. At first, Sophia won the fight, and I loved how she exited the restaurant, screaming “motherfuckin’ bar graphs,” the “motherfucking” part of her delivery teased that Jay said “No” to her business plan, but the “bar graphs” part of the delivery changed the narrative into a positive. But at the end, she lost the battle. In the beginning, she hoped to actually get in business with her father, learning to trust him and see him as part of her life, while also hoping that he learns how to trust her. Then Jay had to disappoint Sophia once more, because there can’t be a show about daddy issues without the kid continuing to have daddy issues over the entire run of the show, and not just half of the season.

Best part of the episode: There was some sense of realism in Sophia trying to get office space. Show this episode to anyone in the middle of starting up their very first business at the age of 20 or something, and maybe something will come out of it. There is more than a morale of the story behind this half hour, it’s almost an educational lesson of how to start a business.
Worst part of the episode: Sophia’s potential landlord looked and sounded like a dick. It’s all cool that he was looking for a co-sign, which means he was real and didn’t want to take Sophia for the money she was waving around, but damn, way to show that San Francisco has weird landlords.
Weirdest part of the episode: Sophia took the chance to introduce her business to Jay by also dragging Shane along and making this a “boyfriend meets parent” episode in her life. Sophia was pulling double duty during the restaurant scene, and I am surprised the story was not modified to also be partly a “boyfriend meets parent” story.
Player of the episode: “I bet I can throw a rock farther than you.” And then she threw one inside the building that was now rented by Sophia, and she didn’t throw it far at all. That was super hilarious and a golden moment of comedy timing. Models can be funny. Who knew?