Fleishman is in Trouble

⭐ 9.5/10

(Originally written by Tim)

The quality of TV shows these days is out of this world. This show starts off as a divorced dad show, where his ex doesn't pick up the kids one day and it throws a wrench into his bachelor life as he tries to get over her. The first two episodes are basically this, with lots of sex and crazy decisions as his life spirals. Jesse Eisenberg is the lead, and it is a role he was born to play, believeable as a doctor moving up in New York City, but also resistant to the shallow friends and pursuits of his ex and her group of friends solely focused on money.

Episode 3 is where this show elevates from a 7.5/10 to a 10/10. We flash back to their love story and it is beautiful, and tragic, and so believable (although both actors are clearly too old to look like university students). These characters are all so well written and performed, and when you start seeing things from both of their eyes you gain sympathy, but not completely. That comes later.

This show is about a lot of things, but I thought mostly about middle age, where your friends calcify a bit and your life is on a path, and if you aren't happy with it it can be hard to change course. This show is very NYC based too, and you can feel the pressure for success the characters put on themselves in that location, and Toby's resistance to the lifestyle his wife earns is an interesting dynamic that made me wonder how I would feel. Easy to hate the sleazy friends who think being a doctor makes you poor, and easy to say you don't like the ultra fancy apartment. But I also loved his kids and how he behaved around them, a good dad, but struggling to teach them the value of money when they can escape to the Hamptons in times of crisis.

The second half of the show (this is a limited series) elevates, and becomes something entirely different. We are seeing long flashbacks, other perspectives, different characters, and they all enhance the loneliness and loss of purpose these characters are facing, while others around them have accepted their lives and are happy. I don't think I relate to these feelings, but I found it moving to watch. There is a gut-wrenching moment of trauma that you watch from both sides (almost like The Last Duel, which I loved), that is completely devastating and colours the previous episodes in a way I wasn't expecting. We get the wife episode, a Claire Danes performance I will not be forgetting any time soon. Just a perfectly pitched show, in an era where it feels like perfect shows come out every month.

The one thing I didn't like is the voiceover, done by one of Toby's friends who is an observer kind of having the same midlife crisis. It is done sparingly, and it wasn't too bad, but I felt that the way it was used in the finale was a bit too poetic. She is a writer, and the idea of her writing about his life in her head and then resolving it with platitudes at the end was a bit over the top. That, and the overly-scandalous first episode, are my only real gripes. One could also argue that this is all first-world problems of the upper middle class, but I thought the portrayal of love and marriage and parenthood were top notch, with themes around loss of identity and purpose that I think anyone could relate to.

It felt like the perfect time to watch this in my life, and it made me feel things I am not sure I have felt watching TV. Its 8 episodes, so not a huge commitment. We watched the first 4 over one week, then the final 4 basically in one night. Highly recommend.