Netflix’s “Easy” and the Simplicity of Solving Life’s Obstacles
All 8 episodes are now available on Netflix.
We’re knee-deep in the return of Fall TV with new shows debuting left and right, and, naturally, some lesser-known shows have been buried. Netflix’s romantic dramedy Easy is one of them, but it shouldn’t be. Easy throws a wrench in the now-popular anthology format, with each episode following a different cast and story, as opposed to each season. Each episode is essentially a different show that exists in the same universe — Chicago, in this case — and characters from one episode pop up in others, giving us that exciting, Easter egg cross-over moment that has become increasingly popular.
The characters (including the city of Chicago), the impressive maturity, and the sincere tone, however, are not the only thread that connects the eight episodes. What ties each of the episodes to the others is the message that becomes larger than the sum of the eight episodes: There is a solution to most of the obstacles life throws at you; it may seem difficult, but it’s actually easy.
In the first episode, we follow a married couple who get introduced to gender stereotype role-playing as a way to potentially jolt their monotonous sex lives. It doesn’t quite give them the results they hope for, but as the episode concludes, we see them enjoying breakfast with their kids, happy, and at peace, and it becomes clear that all they had to do to reinvigorate their marriage was to just try.
Episode two has us follow Chase (Kiersey Clemons) and Jo (Jacqueline Toboni), a lesbian couple who meet and quickly fall in love. The two of them have drastically different lifestyles, and after one tries to be more like the other and realizes that she can’t, they talk to each other and she realizes that she was never expected to change herself. The solution to such unspoken misunderstandings: just be open . The next episode we see an argument arise between an expecting couple after Matt (Evan Jonigkeit) doesn’t tell Sherri (Aya Cash) about the illegal garage brewery he starts with his brother Jeff (Dave Franco). His worry was that Sherri would disapprove, but when she does find out, she says that she is more upset about not being included in the venture and we see that problems can be avoided if you just be honest.
In each episode, a tension or point of conflict arises between characters, and at the end of each episode, the two sides meet, have a heart-to-heart about the issue, and resolve it. That sounds unexciting and boring, but there’s something surprising and great about it, as mature, honest, and open communication is something that’s rarely seen on television, and even in our day-to-day lives. Episode 6 is titled “Utopia”, but the entire show, in a sense, could be called “Utopia”, as the world depicted is a utopia where conflicts are addressed with maturity, honesty, and open communication. That is what Easy encourages, and that is what Easy wants us to strive for.
Episode Power Rankings
- Episode 2: Vegan Cinderella
- Episode 5: Art and Life
- Episode 3: Brewery Brothers
- Episode 7: Hop Dreams
- Episode 6: Utopia
- Episode 1: The Fucking Study
- Episode 4: Controlada
- Episode 7: Chemistry Read
Stray Thoughts and Observations
- Never in my life have I ever been more excited to hear somebody say “I have to babysit” than when the main character of the second episode says it and I realized she was the babysitter from the first episode that we saw for a few seconds.
- I was genuinely disappointed that the babysitter in episode 6 was not the babysitter mentioned above.
- Seeing Aya Cash play such a mature and “uptight” character was unintentionally funny in contrast with her character on You’re The Worst.
- The moments when you realize a side character in an episode is actually the main character of a different episode are fantastic.
Have some different thoughts? Comment below! Disagree with my episode rankings? Also, comment below!
