Recap: Mama Tried, Y'all - Season 2 - Episode 2

Amanda used to live life out loud. But over time, she dimmed her light, stuck in Frank Jr.’s shadow—until Frankie came along and slowly brought her spark back.

The morning after the Kitchen Clash premiere, Mae brings Amanda breakfast to cheer her up. Amanda’s still stunned by the hidden camera footage and wonders why Sabrina never told her it would air. Mae explains that Sabrina wanted to apologize, but Amanda knows Frankie isn’t happy with her.

Shawna arrives with condolence flowers—a dramatic gesture of support. She’s fully onboard the Amanda-Sergio romance train but admits she’s wounded no one clued her in sooner. As the town gossip queen, her credibility has taken a hit. Amanda asks her not to snoop around the Cluckery or stir up more Frank Jr. drama.

Nancy tries calling Frank Jr., worried. Over at Mr. Chicken’s Cluckery, Frank Jr. is falling apart. Christian suggests he take the day off and get his head straight.

Nancy pays the mayor a visit to complain—again—about the busted railroad arm. The mayor cuts to the chase: Does she want it fixed, or is this just a distraction from her personal mess?

Meanwhile, Gus calls Amanda, offering lunch and emotional backup. Amanda declines—what she really wants is to talk to Frankie, but she’s dreading the fallout over the Sergio kiss.

Sabrina admits to Mae she feels awful about the footage. She’s also shocked Mae hasn’t planned her wedding yet. Mae reveals that she never imagined she’d actually get married, always afraid no one would stick around. Sabrina reminds her that Jay’s not going anywhere and offers to help. Mae’s grateful.

Shawna basks in her mini-spotlight moment and runs into Sergio. When he mentions checking in on Amanda, Shawna warns him off, saying Amanda doesn’t want visitors.

Frankie decides to skip school without her mom knowing.

Nancy turns to Bo for comfort. When Bo says he wants to ask her something, Nancy blurts out that she’s not ready to get married. Awkward silence—Bo just wanted to invite her on a long trip to spend quality time together. Nancy considers it.

Shawna swings by the Cluckery, where Christian serves her lunch. She’s more than underwhelmed by the food.

Frank Jr. shows up at the Chicken Sisters to confront Sergio, who insists there’s nothing going on and admits he handled things poorly. Frank Jr. warns him he’s not done with him yet.

Shawna returns to Chicken Sisters and tells Gus just how bad the Cluckery’s food is. Gus, already fed up with prank calls from hecklers of the show (centering around a Caesar salad), yanks the phone cord out of the wall.

Frank Jr. barges into Amanda’s house and accuses her of betrayal. Amanda apologizes, but when she asks him not to be petty, he refuses to sign the divorce papers—out of spite.

Sergio expects Gus to scold him, but instead she just shrugs. “Falling in love makes people do dumb things,” she says.

Mae sees the wedding plans Sabrina’s already made and starts to feel excited. When talk turns to the seating chart, Mae mentions leaving a spot for her dad—even though she doesn’t know who he is. Sabrina suggests a DNA test, but Mae wants the truth from Gus, not a lab result.

Amanda gets a call—Frankie never showed up to school. She searches town and eventually ends up at the coffee shop, where she runs into Dot. Dot says it’s good to see Amanda confident again and confesses she always thought Amanda deserved better than Frank Jr. Amanda is touched.

Back at Chicken Sisters, Gus deals with customers mocking her for the Caesar salad viral moment from the episode. She and Shawna cook up a plan to shut it down.

Frank Jr. confronts Nancy about not telling him what happened between Amanda and Sergio. Bo steps in to defend her, but Nancy is stung when Frank Jr. accuses her of failing as a mom.

Shawna, firmly Team Nancy, says Frank Jr. has a lot of nerve. She reassures Nancy the Cluckery’s food is garbage, which only deepens Nancy’s guilt.

Shawna tries to give Gus a social media makeover, but Gus isn’t having it.

Meanwhile, Linzey finds Frankie hiding out at the movie theater. Dudley shows up, and Linzey’s not thrilled about the surprise third wheel.

Gus returns to the restaurant looking sharp—new outfit, new attitude. Shawna makes an announcement to the patrons: They’re about to witness a viral redemption. Gus eats a Caesar salad on camera, reclaiming the narrative.

Sergio gets a mysterious text from someone wanting to chat.

Amanda finally finds Frankie and gently reminds her that skipping school isn’t the answer. Frankie fires back—how is that any different from Amanda avoiding everything? Then she asks Dudley to take her home.

Amanda and Nancy feed the “lie jar.” Nancy admits she lied to protect herself from having to choose between Amanda and Frank Jr. She loves them both.

Later, Nancy brings Frank Jr. food as a peace offering. She says she’s ready to forgive him if he can forgive her—but he’s not there yet.

Mae and Sabrina continue planning the wedding and bonding. Linzey shows up unexpectedly and blurts out that she wants to go back to New York.

Amanda brings Frankie food and tries to rebuild the bridge. Frankie confesses she wishes Amanda had talked to her about everything that happened with Frank Jr. She felt like an afterthought. Amanda says she’ll always be her mom—but she’s struggling with who she is now that she’s no longer a wife. And when Frankie leaves for college, who will she be then? Frankie reminds her: she can be the woman she used to be—an incredible artist.

And finally, Gus is stunned when Clayton Briggs III—Mae’s father—walks into Chicken Sisters.