Old Adult Binges: Queen Charlotte, Platonic, Based on a True Story

I haven't just been bingeing shows about high schoolers. There have also been a slew of great shows about very adult things and now it's your turn to watch them!

Queen Charlotte: I put this off for a while, but I mean, there was no way I wasn't going to check out a Bridgerton spin-off right? This limited series serves as a prequel of sorts, giving us the story of the young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) who arrives in England to marry the mysterious King George III (Corey Mylchreest). She is a fiery and independent woman, but George is a good match, willing to take her on as she is. But of course, there are so many other obstacles along the way. Which include the fact that she is Black and he is...mad.

Bridgerton only glancingly acknowledged the fact that the cast of the show was not as white as one would expect from a typical period drama about rich British people in the 1800s. This show is an attempt to explain the "social experiment" that Queen Charlotte brought about with her dark skin, where the Crown saw fit to elevate Black families so the Queen wouldn't feel quite so alienated. The show also has to deal with George's fits and the fact that he is eventually overtaken by a "madness" that history has yet to fully diagnose. The show's take is that they had a very happy marriage, and Charlotte protected her husband as best as she could from the outside world. But it's definitely a lot of drama to deal with.

Queen Charlotte is trying to thread a very delicate needle. It half succeeds, but with only six episodes in the season, it can only make a cursory attempt at dealing with questions of race and mental health. Where it is more successful, of course, is in the aesthetics - the costumes and hairstyles and production design are wild and flamboyant and outrageous. And there are definitely plenty of sex scenes to keep you entertained if that's all you want from your Bridgerton binge. But if you don't want your smut served with a side of social commentary, this may not be the right show for you.

Based on a True Story: Chris Messina and Kaley Cuoco star as Nathan and Ava, a couple living in Los Angeles who accidentally discover the identity of a serial killer. And instead of turning him in to the cops, they decide it would be a good idea to partner up with the killer to make a podcast about his exploits. What could go wrong?!

Over the course of eight episodes, things naturally go completely off the rails. This is one of those shows that veers from cliffhanger to cliffhanger, so I'm not going to get into much more plot. But suffice to say, Messina and Cuoco are incredible actors and they are hilarious and compelling in this show that is just as much about the struggles of marriage as it is about keeping tabs on a serial killer. Also, not for nothing, but Cuoco's character is massively pregnant, and I've never seen a show treat a pregnant woman with quite so much agency as this one - this lady is getting up to more shenanigans whilst pregnant than I've ever gotten up to with a completely barren uterus. 

Tom Bateman, who plays the killer, is also excellent, managing to be charming and exceedingly creepy, which is exactly what you want from your serial killer character. The increasingly farcical nature of the relationship between these three people keeps spiraling out of control; it's a well-contained first season, with plenty of jokes and thrills, and I hope they can continue to pull it off in Season 2. 

Platonic: I love this show. It is so clever and smart and has so much to say about gender dynamics and approaching middle age and friendship. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen star as Sylvia and Will, two people who were best friends in college (Will even served as Sylvia's maid of honor at her wedding) but then had a falling out because Will married a woman that Sylvia couldn't stand. Fast forward to several years later, where Sylvia and her husband now have three kids, and she discovers Will has gotten divorced. She tentatively reaches out to see how he is doing, and after a few meetings, they rekindle their friendship.

Yes, this is a show that seems like it is going be tongue-in-cheek about the title and actually this is some sort of slow-burn romcom where the man and woman can't just be platonic best friends but will have to hook up at the end. But no, Sylvia's husband, Charlie (the gorgeous Luke Macfarlane), is a supportive and loving husband, and she's not about to blow that up. Instead, this show truly is focused on what happens to men and women when they get older, and the gendered ruts they can fall into. What's lovely is how their re-established friendship forces both these people to view their lives with fresh perspectives and institute some changes that will make them happier and get back on track with the hopes and dreams they had for themselves when they were younger.

Of course there's still jealousy and misunderstandings, because most of society is not prepared for the idea that straight people of opposite genders can just be friends. But after watching ten episodes of this show, all I can say is that it is a delicious and warm comedy about friendship, and how sometimes that is a relationship that is much more important than romance.