One Day at a Time Season 2 Episode 10 Storage Wars

After the successful premiere of its first season, One Day at a Time managed to lure back the audience to its 2nd season with a remarkable episode "Storage Wars". The episode follows the Alvarezes, a Cuban-American family, living in Los Angeles, focusing on the everyday struggles in their lives. Penelope begins with a flashback that showcases her breakup with Max for them wanting different things. She is still getting over him and meets another man, who she found on a dating app.

Meanwhile, Lydia Alvarez, Penelope's mother, is looking for jobs to make ends meet. Not being fluent with English and having her age against her, Lydia is stuck working odd jobs to survive. But an unexpected opportunity comes her way when she learns about an auction for a storage unit, where the inquisitive and curious Lydia bids impulsively and wins.

Upon showing her find to the family, Lydia discovers that the unit belonged to a former military veteran who had lost his family and kept all his possessions in the storage. There are new and old items ranging from hats, guitars, appliances to a valuable painting. However, as the day progresses, the family senses that Lydia may have overbid, and they may have to let go of some items.

Elsewhere, building supervisor Schneider, attempts to empathize with a tenant, Avery who is struggling with addiction. Schneider wants to intervene but doesn't know how to help her or if he should interfere. Later, when he comes to learn that the tenant is suffering from addiction, Schneider realizes that he too went through the same phase of addiction. He then finds the courage to talk to Avery about his story and comes up with a solution to help her.

As the story progresses, Penelope has mixed feelings about the person she met via the dating app. She is not sure if she should introduce him to her family, especially as she is still in the healing phase after her breakup with Max. This turmoil is further agitated when her soldier friend comes back from Afghanistan and discovers that his girlfriend has moved on. The long absence of his friend suddenly brings back the baggage for Penelope related to Max and their unwillingness to compromise.

A day that began with the possibility of good fortune turns into an opportunity for the Alvarezes to bond and come together. Ultimately, through teamwork and compromise, the family resolves their differences, coming to understand the true value of what they were bidding for and what is truly important to them to pass on to their future.

In this episode, "Storage Wars" highlights the usual struggles of a middle-class family from a minority community and their struggle to make ends meet in modern-day Los Angeles society. One Day at a Time unfolds the story with a refreshing blend of modernity, nostalgia and diversity, thus striking a chord with the audience. The episode deals with the emotional truth of characters, their complexities and the rediscovery of things that hold value in life.