Nasty Gal in the flesh
The show: Girlboss, Season 1, Episode 1 The moment: The sandwich
Sophia (Britt Robertson) — based on the real-life clothing entrepreneur and Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso — is working in a shoe store. Or rather, not working. “Was that a personal call?” her boss Carol asks. “Are you surfing the web?”
“It was. I am,” Sophia says defiantly.
“I don’t know where to begin,” Carol says.
“If you need some time to put your thoughts in order, we could put a pin in this,” Sophia says. She plops into her chair and bites a sandwich. “Is that my sandwich?” Carol asks. Sophia pretends she didn’t know, then says she did. “Now isn’t this the part where we move on?” she asks.
“This is the problem with you. You don’t know your place,” Carol sputters.
“I’m not about to die of malnutrition,” Sophia snaps. “What do you care? You don’t own the place. You’re just middle management on some power trip.” “You’re fired,” Carol says. “What?” Sophia asks. “Why?” This is The Scene. It comes at the midpoint of every first episode of every series about a flawed heroine. It’s the moment where we see her at her brattiest.
It’s the scene you have to get past if you’re going to stick with the show.
As surely as spring follows winter, it’s followed by a scene that restores the heroine’s humanity — in this case, Sophia calls her best friend and we watch as she moves from selfrighteous to self-aware.
“Oh, Annie,” she concludes, eyes filling with tears, “why am I such an a--hole?”
And bingo, you’re either in or out. Girlboss streams on Netflix. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.