Post by justinate on Aug 26, 2022 7:14:57 GMT -5
Today Netflix premiered its series adaptation of Helen Wan's eponymous semi-autobiographical novel about a female Asian-American lawyer vying to make partner at a prestigious NYC law firm dominated by the white old boys' club. Bradley Gibson plays Tyler, the gay Black best friend of the series lead Ingrid (Teen Wolf's Arden Cho).
The show, sadly, is a mess. I haven't read the book but apparently in the translation to the screen, it has lost what was unique about it: an exploration of racial/gender politics at a firm led by old white men who only pay lip service to diversity and inclusion. The season ended on a cliffhanger, and it felt the whole show was designed to lead towards that (rather than the more definitive book ending) so they can wring a second season out of it.
Tyler appears in every episode but is very much a second-tier character but then pretty much everyone plays second fiddle to Ingrid. (It did feel like her female Jewish best friend got ever so slightly more focus than Tyler, especially in the first half of the season.) Tyler has a love life, including an onscreen tryst so he's not lacking in that department but, like Ingrid, his big story is undermined by the show's emphasis on romantic entanglements.
Spoilers for the season:
The show, sadly, is a mess. I haven't read the book but apparently in the translation to the screen, it has lost what was unique about it: an exploration of racial/gender politics at a firm led by old white men who only pay lip service to diversity and inclusion. The season ended on a cliffhanger, and it felt the whole show was designed to lead towards that (rather than the more definitive book ending) so they can wring a second season out of it.
Tyler appears in every episode but is very much a second-tier character but then pretty much everyone plays second fiddle to Ingrid. (It did feel like her female Jewish best friend got ever so slightly more focus than Tyler, especially in the first half of the season.) Tyler has a love life, including an onscreen tryst so he's not lacking in that department but, like Ingrid, his big story is undermined by the show's emphasis on romantic entanglements.
Spoilers for the season:
Tyler's major arc was combating racism from the rich white straight guy who performs a very mocking standup routine that's borderline racist, but he ultimately lost and decided to quit the firm for failing to back him, despite the recommendation of the investigator (a white woman) who felt the perpetrator should be placed on probation. Management chose not to act on her recommendation and let Dan off with a slap on the wrist. Then, for reasons not clear to me (I was skimming the show), Tyler cheats on his boyfriend. It felt out of the blue (and the guy wasn't even that cute). He does have a hot fling with a guy from his gym in the finale. What I didn't understand was that an early episode seemed to be setting him up for a fling with someone totally different, a seemingly straight coworker who's friends with the racist, which felt like it had inbuilt drama, but they ultimately didn't go there.
