What They Say:
From director and creator Joe Swanberg, this Netflix-original comedy anthology series explores diverse Chicago characters, modern romance technology and culture.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
When the first season of Easy landed back in September 2016 I found myself to be really engaged with it. While there’s the tendency to do hour-long dramas like this, especially on Netflix where you have some room for running time, creator Joe Swanberg opted for thirty-odd minute episodes to tell his tales like little modern day fables and the like. Making it a lightly interconnected anthology of sorts with some characters moving between with light touches you enjoy those connections but each episode is largely focused on those in the moment. Swanberg’s not looking to come up with any of the answers here but rather to provide a look into the window of lives of others, to gain some understanding and empathy for them, and perhaps look at your own life at well through a new lens.
This season has several new stories and a welcome number of continuing pieces from last year and just like the first season there are a good number of them that I really wish would just be expanded into their own works. Swanberg creates things here that feels more “real” than a lot of other shows of a similar nature where even with as normalized as the actors and actresses are made they still have that air of Hollywood beauty about them. Easy takes that down and really does make it feel like several of them just stepped onto the set as they may have normally dressed as regular folks and moved forward into character. This is also well accented by the settings and locations where while not claustrophobic they feel far more like a real city as opposed to a set, with small rooms, lots of things in it, and a very lived-in look. This doesn’t serve as a distraction (even if I catch myself looking for book titles on shelves) but helps to make the characters seem like they have lives beyond what’s here. It’s not just “decorated for TV” but lived-in for life.
The best shows of this particular genre are the ones that really do ask you how you’d react in that situation – and often wonder how you could have ended up in that situation. Those that are a bit further along in life will chuckle and simply tell you that you won’t recognize that you’re on these strange paths until it’s too late because life, with all the people in it, are full of variables that you can’t predict. Take the second episode where Andy and Kyle are in couples counseling and she reveals that she’s ready to move forward with something big in her life, an open marriage. You get the sense that it’s been a fringe discussion that she’s now wanting to go ahead with while he’s kind of slightly stunned by it. His fear is that if he says no then she’s done with him and it’ll be irreparable. They’re both quick to say how much they love each other and that she hasn’t anyone in mind but it doesn’t take long until she wants to connect with a guy from work and sets up the date. Depending on your own relationship a lot of this is going to be hard to understand, from how he goes along with it all and handles it – such as not wanting to be hanging out with the kids by himself while she does this – to just the kind of almost uneasy questions he has asking her about it. The date itself doesn’t go quite as she intended, though she ends up having a one-night stand anyway, and his night takes its own turns that really does make it clear that he’s not ready for this and likely not really read for an open marriage lifetstyle. It’s one of the hardest things to do and requires a very certain kind of personality. But within the space of thirty minutes this episode covers so much ground, digs into the characters so well, and can hit such a strong emotional response from audiences because of how divisive it is that it really does work.
One of the episodes that connects back from the first season involves Jacob, as played by the always delightful Marc Maron, as we see that his big book from twenty years ago is getting ready for an anniversary release. That has him just tired of the experience in a way especially with what kind of marketing and promotional push comes form the modern day. There’s a lot of neat little bits there but the bigger focus is on his publicist who is trying to get him to get a quote or article from his ex that the book is about. He knows it’s a bad idea, says it’s a bad idea, but gives in under the badgering. That situation just plays out comically awful but after years and years apart the two do finally get to reconnect. There’s that sense as they talk about being different from who they were then that gives the idea of a new bond forming on top of the old one, but I love how it digs into Jacob’s character in just what the core of his personality is and why she can’t handle it but couldn’t quite pin it down the first time around. I came away definitely feeling for both of them a lot but I’ll easily admit I felt a lot more sympathetic toward Jacob because he is, in a way, trapped by who he is and unable to break free of it.
Another callback from the first season that is at the top of my most-wanted spin-off list is the fourth episode that focuses on the brewery brothers. They had their own separate episodes last time around and this time we get just one which has to deal with both of them and their struggle with the business that they started, the two men having different visions clashing with the reality of a business, and their significant others who are now going into a potentially more successful business on their own. Again, it’s an area where within thirty minutes it has a lot of ground to cover but it has the advantage of the two prior episodes and some strong performances. I’m a huge admirer of Aya Cash and love what she does here but wished she had more opportunities within it because we know what she’s capable of thanks to her leading role in You’re The Worst. What struck me with this episode is just how much more sympathetic I became to the brother played by Dave Franco, an actor that I do struggle with because of the roles he usually gets, but here he comes across as so much more accessible. The problems with him and his brother come down to “damn, guys, just talk in full sentences already and clear the air.” but we know that life rarely works that easy because of our own insecurities.
The new stories that make up a lot of this season are definitely fun and most left me wanting more. The opening with a panicky set of neighbors in higher-end middle class Chicago plays to paranoia well but was just a delight to see Aubrey Plaza in wife mode as opposed to what she usually gets with dark comic material. The third episode delves into a Nigerian-American who does some great stand up material as his desired life but focuses on the connections he makes as an uber driver or doing Chicago bus tours and the like. Walking alongside him in his life reminds you of just how hard so many work to make so little that it seems never ending. I also liked that his story connected with the escort whose life is presented the way a lot of it actually is compared to the usual “stone cold” types that the dramas present. There’s something wonderfully human and therapeutic about how she’s presented here and carries herself while still protecting herself.
In Summary:
Depending on how introspective you are, a show like Easy can be hell to watch. I’m a huge fan of You’re the Worst because it does make me think and question a lot about my own relationships over the years to try and understand and “fix” myself in some ways. Easy does a lot of the same but it’s so diverse with its stories and intentions that it can touch on a lot of things in your life. Swanberg really caught my attention with the first season and while the second season eases off the sexuality side a bit (which was definitely titillating in the first season) it does it to bolster the character stories and their struggles on a more emotional level. The result is a show that can really leave you looking at your own life and that of others to understand it all more. That it’s all done as thirty minute episodes that are mostly one-off vignettes is even more impressive. There are still several stories here that I’d love to see spun off to their own projects but I love that this talented cast across the board gets a chance to just step in and do something that’s almost magical. The second season isn’t quite as strong as the first season for me but it’s definitely been worth the wait and I hope that there’s more in the future.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Netflix