bencurrey

This stellar cast is full of people, aside from Hilary Duff, who you'll look at and go "where do I know them from..." Valentina (Francia Raisa) was in "Grownish" Sid (Suraj Sharma) was in "Life of Pi," and Jesse (Chris Lowell) was in cult-classic "Veronica Mars."

In the old days a show was given a few episodes to find itself. People are writing this off after the pilot as a doomed enterprise. Some are saying it suffers for being too "woke" (or maybe just too representative?) But the first episode pulls off a Herculean feat--bringing Sophie (Duff), Valentina and her new British beau Charlie (Tom Ainsley) into swift contact with Sid, Jesse and his sister Ellen (Tien Tran) and thus establishing the core friend group of the show.

By episode two the dynamic is already starting to coalesce, Charlie plays well as the posh aristocrat trying to "rough it" with "regular American guys," the sentiment of Sophie's quest for love is endearing (if a tad cheesy), and Ellen is hilarious as an offbeat divorcee from smalltown, USA. In short, if for nothing else than the show that inspired it, and the talent its new faces bring, it's worth giving a chance.

P. S. Kim Cattrall is the "mother" in this spin-off, and I for one am very grateful she ditched "And Just Like That" and is instead lending her talents to this much more promising refresh.

TV's Scott Foley carries a stellar cast that includes vets like Teri Polo (Julia) and Piper Perabo (Paula) along with stars like Ser'Darius Blain (Reggie) and newcomers Raymond Cham Jr. (Justin) and Simone Recasner (Gabby).

The pilot feels like it tried to cram everything the show wanted to be in one episode--a funny yet sometimes sad yet sometimes poignant commentary on the state of the world today and how reality TV exploits the plight of the dispossessed.

But it also makes you laugh. It's characters are painted first with broad strokes, establishing familiar story arcs to immediately invest you in the story. It all seems like a product of an age where data analytics prove a show must grab your attention by x minute and x second to be successful and certain metrics must be met for a pilot to be picked up or a show renewed.

For all of that, I found myself by episode two rooting for some characters, anticipating a delicious downfall for others, and altogether wanting to see where this story led. It isn't the greatest show ever made, but after throwing it on on a whim one Thursday evening I find myself compelled to come back for more.