How Will Barbara “Carry On” After 'Funny Woman's Current Mess?

Funny Woman’s fourth episode is a dizzying bunch of swings and roundabouts — Sophie and Clive enjoy a honeymoon period, a bubble that can’t help but be burst; the entire Jim and Barbara team produce their funniest and sharpest episode yet, only to see CTV head of light entertainment Ted Sergeant’s face shrivel into a grouchy raisin of disapproval because of one little cuss word; Diane’s new job is promising, but still quite disappointing; and George and Auntie Marie have a splendid time in London.... riiiiight up until Sophie demands to know (on a mic she didn’t know was hot) why Clive is such a lying, cheating c—. Strap in and take your Dramamine, friends; this is a bumpy ride.

The salad days of Sophie and Clive’s romance are genuinely fun and sweet. It’s adorable to see them charm chat show hosts and audiences, to watch them zoom off in Clive’s very sporty red Aston Martin, and to come along on their lovely evening dancing at a groovy club. The songs playing over these moments are Etta James’s “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” and Françoise Hardy’s “Le temps de l’amour,” a reminder that the music supervision team for the series went all out with wall-to-wall bangers. Sophie’s magnificent minidress in these moments is the picture of youthful glamour. It’s a high-collared, sleeveless number made up entirely of sequins in concentric squares of iridescent white and blue, silver, and gold. Imagine if a Rothko painting or a blanket made of granny squares were sparkly.

They’re not just spending every night out on the town, either — Sophie is sleeping over most nights at Clive’s bachelor pad, maintaining the merest fig leaf of plausibility that they aren’t living together. She goes home early each morning for a bath and change of clothes, but it’s only a matter of time before they’re found out, and Ted Sergeant makes it clear the network won’t look kindly on such an arrangement.