At first glance, the show is full of selfishness, narcissism, and psychopathy. The "selfie" generation. At a deeper level, it is a commentary on the state of parenting and socialization; actually, the lack thereof.
The show focuses on three characters, all of which deeply flawed. Alex and Valerie are children of "me" generation parents, which means that they had to contend with not being the center of attention at all times of their parents. Valerie compensates to a terrible degree, much like most of her generation, in raising her kid. Her kid is a disaster; she was given no boundaries by her mom in her desire to be loved by her child and afraid to lose the attention that she did not get from her own parents. The daughter acts in all kinds of narcissistic, borderline psychopathic ways, and mom, a therapist no less, lets her get away with it because again, her desire to be loved overshadows her requirement to be a responsible parent.
There is no growth in this expose of millennial dysfunction outside of Alex. Maybe because he never had kids he is able to focus on himself and the problems within. He travels from intense swinger without a care to sensitive brother to Mr. Lonely quickly and satisfactorily.
Valerie is a failure as a therapist, and an odd duck to boot. She seems a little mentally unstable altogether, like someone headed for a breakdown perhaps. She is not likable at all, really, she is essentially lousy at everything. She actually can commit, actually commitment doesn't seem to be a problem for any of these characters, but it is to what they commit that is so worrying.
The daughter - this girl is really in trouble mentally. She is so scathed I cannot see her coming out of this without intense therapy, if she isn't already a psychopath and beyond hope. This is through no fault of her own and she should have been actually raised, not liberated way before she matured. This is a real reflection of what these over-permissive parents are doing to their children today and why we are ending up with terribly disturbed kids doing terribly disturbed things, if they don't contract the red measles or pertussis first due to the non-vaxxers.
In terms of the production - the sets are nice and full of interest and very Californian. The acting is good all around. There is a sense of claustrophobia in every scene, not sure if that is a function of the camera work or intentional. No shaky cameras though, big plus. What I am on the fence about and where I cannot score higher is the gratuitously liberal use of swear words and dirty talk (I for one cannot imagine and know no one who would talk with their brother about what Valerie talks about so casually...but maybe I am out of touch?).
As an aside, now I get why I find dating today so disgusting. I don't know, it used to be so much fun getting to know someone and anticipating the "big" night! I feel bad for this whole generation that is missing out on romance and respect.
The show focuses on three characters, all of which deeply flawed. Alex and Valerie are children of "me" generation parents, which means that they had to contend with not being the center of attention at all times of their parents. Valerie compensates to a terrible degree, much like most of her generation, in raising her kid. Her kid is a disaster; she was given no boundaries by her mom in her desire to be loved by her child and afraid to lose the attention that she did not get from her own parents. The daughter acts in all kinds of narcissistic, borderline psychopathic ways, and mom, a therapist no less, lets her get away with it because again, her desire to be loved overshadows her requirement to be a responsible parent.
There is no growth in this expose of millennial dysfunction outside of Alex. Maybe because he never had kids he is able to focus on himself and the problems within. He travels from intense swinger without a care to sensitive brother to Mr. Lonely quickly and satisfactorily.
Valerie is a failure as a therapist, and an odd duck to boot. She seems a little mentally unstable altogether, like someone headed for a breakdown perhaps. She is not likable at all, really, she is essentially lousy at everything. She actually can commit, actually commitment doesn't seem to be a problem for any of these characters, but it is to what they commit that is so worrying.
The daughter - this girl is really in trouble mentally. She is so scathed I cannot see her coming out of this without intense therapy, if she isn't already a psychopath and beyond hope. This is through no fault of her own and she should have been actually raised, not liberated way before she matured. This is a real reflection of what these over-permissive parents are doing to their children today and why we are ending up with terribly disturbed kids doing terribly disturbed things, if they don't contract the red measles or pertussis first due to the non-vaxxers.
In terms of the production - the sets are nice and full of interest and very Californian. The acting is good all around. There is a sense of claustrophobia in every scene, not sure if that is a function of the camera work or intentional. No shaky cameras though, big plus. What I am on the fence about and where I cannot score higher is the gratuitously liberal use of swear words and dirty talk (I for one cannot imagine and know no one who would talk with their brother about what Valerie talks about so casually...but maybe I am out of touch?).
As an aside, now I get why I find dating today so disgusting. I don't know, it used to be so much fun getting to know someone and anticipating the "big" night! I feel bad for this whole generation that is missing out on romance and respect.