In the US: Wednesdays, 8:30pm/7:30c, Freeform
Back when Girls first aired, I gave it a thumbs down, based on the general premise that although it was witty, well written and probably reflected a certain demographic very well, I wanted all the pampered, cosseted characters to die a fiery death. Sure, they weren’t doing much that was different from what male characters had been getting away with in other shows, but I’d usually wanted those male characters to die fiery deaths, too, so at least I was consistent.
The proof of this is Alone Together, as I want both the pampered, cosseted lead characters to die fiery deaths. I didn’t want this to happen at first: episode 1 I found surprisingly funny – so funny, I was prepared to revise my normally sacrosanct rule against friends writing and starring in TV shows together. It saw two millennial friends (Esther Povitsky, Benji Aflalo) living in LA realise that they’re not exactly 10s in the scheme of things, particularly not for LA, so do their best to help each other date, knowing they’ll probably die alone anyway. Meanwhile, although the idea makes both nauseous, everyone else thinks they’re perfect for each.
All of which worked quite very nicely. They were obviously friends but they had a lovely line in put downs and self-mockery. The show had edginess to it, and it really explored its Los Angeles location well.
Episode two, however, made me just hate these millennial dicks. They weren’t just dicks to each other, they were dicks to their friends, to the extent it was impossible to tell why anyone would be in their vicinity. They also weren’t very clever about it, even if they thought they were.
The latest episode was an improvement on that, with our ‘heroes’ a little bit better to one another and to others, and their put-downs once again self-depreciating and smart. The trouble is, I now hate them both. It’s also not about dating, which given the show is called Alone Together is something of a swizz.
All of which means that I’m firstly going to stick to my original rule and secondly come up with a new rule: stick to your show’s premise unless you’ve got a really good route map to help you. Oh, and thirdly, that I’m not going to watch Alone Together any more. They’ll have to watch it by themselves.
Barrometer rating: 3
