Platonic Season 1 Episode 8 Review: San Diego
Platonic goes from cringe humor to uncomfortable really quickly on Season 1 Episode 8, “San Diego.”
I don’t love this pivot, to be honest. It’s not just the Johnny Rev storyline, but the Charlie angle—which was something that I worried about on Platonic Season 1 Episode 4, “Divorce Party.”
It’s hard not to be sympathetic to Sylvia’s situation. The horrifying painting debacle is a tough one to live down, and I don’t blame her for not coming clean to Charlie right away.
Although, you gotta give her credit for trying to anyway. I would’ve put that news on the back burner immediately, too, after the welcome home her family gives her.
On the previous episode, Platonic Season 1 Episode 7, “Let the River Run,” the opening scene and closing scene created a nice symmetry. The slowed down frame rate on Sylvia operating at two very different frames of mind and moods puts the audience in her shoes in a cinematic way.
Both instances show Sylvia having a win, so it’s a positive feeling.
“San Diego” uses the same technique at the start of the episode, but to the opposite effect. The same song is even used to mimic the opener of “Let the River Run” which gets its title from the tune that plays as Sylvia gets ready to go to work and as she gets ready to not go to work.
It was used firstly to garner good feelings and then to comedic effect. Using it here kind of seems like kicking Sylvia while she’s down. And it doesn’t help that Charlie is treating her with kid gloves in a way that comes off as rather patronizing.
So, this episode starts off on a sour note, and it only gets worse for Sylvia from there.
Charlie and his lawyer pals reduce Sylvia and Will’s friendship to a legal problem to solve. His searching for the “truth” is blown way out of proportion. Sylvia is allowed to have a best friend of the opposite sex. It’s crazy to me that this issue continues to be brought up in a negative light.
The extent the abhorrent Mr. Rev goes to drive this inane point home, right after assaulting Sylvia, puts him, rightfully, in the role of the villain.
Charlie is not a bad guy at all. In fact, he won me over pretty quickly on Platonic Season 1 Episode 5, “My Wife’s Boyfriend.” By paralleling the two men having issues with a woman having a male bestie, it puts them uncomfortably close together on that misogynistic plane.
Charlie’s lawyerly need for evidence is keeping him from being an understanding partner, which Sylvia so obviously needs right now. Again, I can’t blame her for opting to hang with Will whenever she can.
Will stands up for her several times on this episode, thankfully, and most importantly, he stands up to Johnny Rev regarding his disgusting behavior. I love that he is immediately done with the deal after seeing the mogul’s true colors.
But, Will had a gut aversion to the concept of Johnny Rev before even meeting him, and it turns out that intuition was right all along. He makes a lot of good, stand-up choices throughout this episode, even as he’s made to be the fall guy at any given moment by his business partners who don’t give him enough respect nor the credit he deserves a lot of the time.
Although, it’s not shocking that a character like Johnny Rev ends up being awful or that Reggie is still willing to be in the Johnny Rev business after all that.
Sylvia: Well, they say, “never meet your heroes.”
Will: Yep. Who would’ve thought Johnny Rev was a piece of shit.
“San Diego” forces a comparison between the two men in Sylvia’s life. Charlie is both sides-ing her about getting fired and Will is offering her a much needed reprieve.
It is possible for a woman to have a caring best friend be there in her time of need (especially if her husband is currently lacking in that department), and for their relationship to remain platonic. Charlie’s ominous greeting to her when she arrives home after that rough day is an annoying indication that this outdated conflict will continue to plague the story, detracting from the comedy.
It’s not that deep, you know. Let’s get back to Willvia getting into silly hijinks and letting loose at this later stage of their lives. I feel there is plenty to explore without resorting to this stale plot line.
What did you think of this episode of Platonic? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
New episodes of Platonic stream Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Erin Allen
Erin is a former script supervisor for film and television. She's an avid fan of middle aged actresses, dark dramas, and irreverent comedies. She loves to read actual books and X-Files fan fiction. Her other passions include pointing out feminist issues, shipping Mulder and Scully, and collecting pop culture mugs.