“You gotta have that attitude to live in New York.” – Jordanna
The New York City-based edition of Little Women, appropriately called Little Women: NY, opens with Lila introducing herself with, “I’m Lila, and I’m a big hot mess.”
The opening scene involves Lila and Jason picking up flowers from a bodega, as they are called in NYC, with drama coming into play when the cashier can’t see “little woman” Lila amongst the busy and taller crowd. The ostensibly unscripted scene is played with a light, comedic tone, and Jason helps boost up Lila so that she can be seen.
Jason, a little person himself, for his part provides us with something of a description for Little Women: NY as a whole: “Six little women and the one guy who can handle them all.”
Lila lets us know that not only is she a big hot mess, but she’s also the life of the party. Then she goes into how growing up in Ohio as a little person was challenging. She later moved to New York City to be with a boyfriend, but they soon broke up. She’s also trying to focus on her sobriety and looking for a nice man to date.
Jason is Lila’s “Filipino sidekick.” Jason tells us that he’s 27 and still lives with his parents. He plans on living at home until he gets married. “And since I got no boo, I’m home indefinitely,” he says, as we see him eating a home cooked meal made by his mom. Jason tells us he has a great family who doesn’t treat him any differently because he’s “little,” but the outside world is more challenging.
Jason and Jordanna meet up to take a ballroom dancing class in Manhattan. They are both performers, best friends, and “two peas in a pod,” says Jason. We then see the two of them showing off some pretty spicy dance moves. We also learn that Jason has a crush on Jordanna, even if she’s a “tomboy.”
Jordanna confirms the tomboy assessment, stating that she burps, farts, sweats, and “doesn’t give a f— what people think” of her. We also learn that Jordanna is currently performing in a Broadway musical called Side Show, which is about stage performers in the 1930s.
Jordanna has an “average height” boyfriend named Anthony. They live together and he seems like a good dude from the first few glimpses we get of him.
Jordanna and Jason have a compelling conversation in which Jordanna expresses that she would be devastated if Anthony left her because of their height difference, and Jason talks about how he wonders if women will think of him as a “broken toy” and worries that he’ll always be alone.
Meanwhile, Lila’s friend from LA, Elena, is in town to visit. Elena is a clothing designer who creates clothes styles for both average and little people sizes. We see a few flashbacks of the LA crowd treating Lila pretty awfully – there’s backstory there involving an ex-boyfriend that’s mentioned briefly – and Lila is excited to introduce Lila to her new NYC crowd.
Dawn, Lila, and Jason then head to an aerial yoga class. The cast of Little Women: NY are certainly active and busy. Good note for me to get out of my office chair and get moving after publishing this piece! Though note: I will not be attending an aerial yoga class anytime soon – it’s looks really, really hard.
Dawn meanwhile lets us know that, “People say I’m a loudmouth, but I’m just opinionated. I’m 3’ 8”, but I tell people I’m seven-feet tall.” We learn that she’s paralegal, and has a condition in which she experiences very frequent bone fractures. Dawn has a strong, resilient spirit that’s inspiring.
Jazmin then checks in and introduces herself as a “spicy Latina.” She’s married to David, who she has known since they were kids. While she has a business degree, she wants to be a performer. Dawn is concerned that there’s not a large number of opportunities for little people, where roles will be limited to “elves and leprechauns.”
Next, we meet Misty, who tells us, “Having big boobs and blonde hair doesn’t mean someone’s ditzy. In my case, it’s just a coincidence!” Misty is from Baton Rouge, and from an “average height family.” She’s dating average sized Joe, who is a student in Massachusetts. She likens their relationship as “the new Brangelina.”
The gang gets together, where Lila introduces Elena to her New York City friends. Kristin also comes by, who Lila calls a “hopeless romantic.” She married very young and went through a painful divorce, but now she lives with Misty, and is happy with new (and young) boyfriend Josh.
When Jason comes by, the topic of his sexual identity comes up. Jason demurs, saying he’s “single and ready to mingle,” but isn’t interested in dating any of his friends.
Meanwhile, Elena gets pretty flirty with Anthony, Jordanna’s boyfriend. Jordanna isn’t thrilled, but doesn’t seem threatened. Dawn and Elena also get into an argument and insult each other over fashion choices. Jazmin’s advice for both of them: “Calm your tits.”
At some point Elena gets into it with a bunch of the ladies at the table, causing Kristin to eventually burst into tears about her divorce and secrets that Lila may have shared with Elena.
Overall, I was far more compelled by the premiere episode of Little Women: NY than I expected, though the arguments around the dinner table at the end trended into typical/boring reality show stuff for me.
Some stats and info about Little Women: NY, “Big City, Little Women”
TV SHOW – Little Women: NY
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 1
AIRED ON – March 25th, 2015
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Lifetime
GENRE – Reality TV, Docuseries
CREATED BY – Gerald Massimei
CAST – Jordanna James, Dawn Lang, Jazmin Lang, Kristin Zettlemoyer, Lila Call, Jason Perez, Misty Irwin