Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
In theory, Netflix’s Friends From College is everything I adore in a television show. A once tight-knit group of friends reuniting? Yes. A cast of comedic supernovas featuring Keegan Michael Key, Fred Savage, Cobie Smulders, and Nat Faxon? C’mon, that’s a borderline absurd amount of talent. A ’90s heavy soundtrack that spins jams from Hanson, Oasis, and Spacehog? I’m in. In an absolute mmmbop I’m in. A friend of mine literally posted “Did you write this show?” on my Facebook page when the trailer dropped in June.
If there’s a target audience for this series, I’m the bullseye, which is why I was shocked to discover how maddeningly joyless Friends From College is to watch. I say maddeningly because there’s a terrific show hidden amidst the rubble of one-note characters and sterile storytelling. Premiering today on Netflix, the conceit is inherently compelling. Harvard sweethearts Ethan (Key) and Sam (Annie Parisse) have been hooking up for the better part of two decades despite the fact that Ethan is now married to their shared college pal Lisa (Smulders). They decide to end the affair when the friend group is reunited after Ethan and Lisa move to New York City.
Turns out that terminating a long-term affair isn’t as simple as you’d think.
Again, the general premise is interesting, but the execution is off. Co-creators Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco — who are married and went to Harvard in real life — made a deliberate choice to make this group of friends immensely insular and obnoxiously unlikable. They alienate anyone who’s not a part of their cocoon of nostalgia and repeatedly break into a variety of “you can’t sit with us-esque” bits — Lisa acting like a seal, exaggerated grunting while playing tennis, the nickname Froshy — that are grating to anyone not privy to their secret handshake. If I saw these jokers hanging out at the local park, I’d move. Not to a new park but to a different state.
The group’s repugnant behavior does, however, produce a bright spot: Billy Eichner as Fred Savage’s character’s boyfriend Felix. “I want everyone to know that after a long talk with Max (Savage) last night, I have decided to go ahead and try to like you,” he says, a surrogate for the viewer during a wine tasting sojourn in Long Island.
His plan is not successful.
Friends From College is aggressively anti-friendship and overwhelmingly anti-nostalgia. Their shenanigans — throwing a chair through a window, ruining a wedding reception, damaging party buses — aren’t cute and madcap so much as they are unrealistically reckless and absurdly consequence free. The group’s collective inability to let go of the past affects their present and will inevitably destroy their futures.
This isn’t compelling or entertaining; it’s just depressing.
The series lacks the heart and nuance needed to make anyone care about these characters, which is staggering considering the collective charisma of the cast. There’s nothing unique about their particular brand of awfulness. Engaging anti-heroes/unlikable characters are complex, but the gang from Friends From College are just frustratingly unaware of their own revulsion. I see that pedestrian form of dreadfulness every morning on the subway, Netflix. I don’t need it from you too!
The series also relies way too heavily on the Ethan/Sam affair without substantially raising the stakes or offering anything new or interesting to the plot. The two often act defensive, like they’re the aggrieved party because their significant others dared to get in the middle of the GREATEST LOVE STORY EVER TOLD, except their love isn’t exactly vision board material. Ethan consistently shows a stunning lack of empathy towards his wife or genuine guilt for his actions, which maybe is just a Harvard thing on this show because eventually another affair from this group of intelligent degenerates blooms, and when it’s initiated, one party is instantly down to bone no questions asked without any consideration for the fact that it’s a best friend’s spouse.
That is the behavior of a sociopath.
I understand that a longtime group of friends giving off an obnoxious, cliquey vibe is super realistic, but that doesn’t mean I want to watch a TV show about it. Going to the dentist is also true to life, but I don’t want to stream a root canal for eight episodes… unless the dentist is a renegade who plays by her own rules and moonlights as a covert agent who solves tooth-related mysteries.
Unlikable characters can be an absolute joy to watch. It’s Always Sunny brilliantly combines humor and intelligence. You’re the Worst, a series about people struggling against their own self-destructive tendencies, is the smartest show on television. The particular brand of self-absorption found in Netflix’s newest series just isn’t compelling enough to hook viewers. Friends From College really wants you to know that the whole is more deplorable than the sum of its parts when it comes to this group of friends. Mission accomplished.
