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- Netflix
- Sep 22, 2016
- Netflix
- Sep 22, 2016
Summary The anthology series from Joe Swanberg is set in Chicago where characters played by such actors as Malin Akerman, Orlando Bloom, Hannibal Buress, Michael Chernus, Dave Franco, Jake Johnson, Marc Maron, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw deal with culture, love, sex, and technology.
Created By: Joe Swanberg
- Netflix
- Sep 22, 2016
- Netflix
- Sep 22, 2016
Summary The anthology series from Joe Swanberg is set in Chicago where characters played by such actors as Malin Akerman, Orlando Bloom, Hannibal Buress, Michael Chernus, Dave Franco, Jake Johnson, Marc Maron, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw deal with culture, love, sex, and technology.
Created By: Joe Swanberg
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
72
60% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
40% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
72
60% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
40% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A naturalistic comedy of modern manners set among the young, less young and undeniably middle-aged people of Chicago, it's another basket of goodies turned up on the doorstep in a fall season barely started yet already full of them.
For as easy as it would be to get lost in the look and feel of the new series, Swanberg has a lot to say with Easy. Some arguments may be more compelling than others, and Easy itself is distinctly understated in almost every regard (much like its setting).
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 51 User Ratings
6.0
53% Positive
27 Ratings
27 Ratings
20% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
27% Negative
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 51 User Ratings
6.0
53% Positive
27 Ratings
27 Ratings
20% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
27% Negative
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
A show that feels real, as opposed to the stand-up fakery of similar shows like Master of None. Contemporary, challenging, intimate, and uncomfortable in the best way possible, Easy is a show to cherish.
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SEASON 1
Easy is a trying to tap into something that is rarely done in television; utilizing the anthology format to emulate real life. The show features 30 minute vignettes of an extremely diverse cast of characters living in Chicago.
While many stories covering extremely specific aspects of romantic/sexual relationships, it's focus is really any and all relationships. Parents/kids. Neighbor/neighbor. Brother/Brother.
The subjects and themes which are explored are as varied as the characters, so it's difficult to get behind any one thing. But with certain characters being given multiple episodes and with many other characters popping up in each others stories in subtle, natural manners, I'm excited to see all these things grow and the show run for another 10 or 20 seasons.
Yes, there many be some characters/situations you don't agree with, as with an anthology, you don't need to be exposed to them for long and there'll be another character/topic that will resonant with you.
My major gripe is with the marketing focusing on sex, when that's not quite the focus of the show (maybe only being a factor in half of the episodes?) and that it is only given 8 episodes a season.
The show is weaving such a rich tapestry of a city and it's inhabitants, represented in such a raw, honest way and it is a shame that is isn't given most time to do so per year. Something special is present in the show, it hasn't blossomed yet, but by the end of the second season you can really see the bud forming.
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SEASON 1
There are moments in each episode when a disarming sincerity shines through, and you realize that you’re seeing that rarity of rarities: television characters who are having substantive, free-ranging conversations about something other than their own needs, and finding themselves getting closer to something like mutual understanding. This is hard to do without coming off as pompous or Polyannaish, but Easy makes it look easy.
Ratajkowski’s insightful observations cut through Maron’s monologues, but there’s no clear winner, of course. There are no buttons here so much as pins in a discussion. Swanberg’s modular approach to storytelling offers one of the few true snacking options among Netflix’s binging fare, which is almost as satisfying.
And yet one wishes that Swanberg had tried a bit harder to get out of his intimate, meandering comfort zone. It would be interesting to see what Swanberg would produce if he gave himself a more difficult challenge.
The low-key, improvisatory nature of the work can strike some as remarkably natural and authentic, and others as fingernails-on-the-blackboard exasperating. ... [The actors are] all good, though only Ms. Mbatha-Raw really breaks through the restraints of the short format and delivers something powerful.
It throws a wide array of actors, including Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Aya Cash, Marc Maron, Elizabeth Reaser, Orlando Bloom, and Raúl Castillo, into varying scenarios about love, sex, marriage, and everything in between, and the results are, predictably, mixed. In the end, though, the series indulges way more mundane ramblings than anything particularly interesting.
I feel like this shoe is misunderstood and I created an account just to express how much I loved what Swanberg tried to do here. If you haven't seen his films, they are very similar to the style he uses here and I think the formatted presented with this show is the optimal way for him to express it. The acting is solid, the writing is subtle and complex. There is a lot going on under the current of what is shown on screen
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SEASON 1
"Easy" has some worthwhile moments, but after a few episodes you're reminded that all eight of them were written by the same person. There's a sameness to the characters and their situations that gets tiring after a while. Most episodes involve a thirtysomething couple dealing with some aspect of parenting. Either someone gets pregnant, is trying to get pregnant or is raising a small child. Not once do you see a couple with teen-aged children. Significantly, the series is set in Chicago which is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States, but is also one of the most segregated. The latter aspect of Chicago stands out the most here. With few exceptions, "Easy" focuses primarily on the lives of mostly white hipsters and artist types of a certain age. Absent are blue collar types, the extremely wealthy, the aged, and to a large extent, people of color. If this were a typical series that featured a small cast of regulars like "Seinfeld" or "Friends," this wouldn't be so noticeable, but as an anthology series set in a large metropolitan city, this lack of diversity really stands out after a few episodes. This is not to say there is no diversity, but not as much as you would expect. Men of color are largely ignored. About half of the episodes feature black women to some degree, but in each case their romantic relationships are all with white people. Conversely, the two episodes that feature black men with more than a bit role, none of them have any onscreen romantic relationships. Another episode features a Latino couple and their friend (who all speak in Spanish), but otherwise Latinos are mostly absent from the series. A couple of episodes have small featured roles for Asian women, but Asian men are practically invisible. Clearly, the best episode is "Art and Life," which features Marc Maron as a middle aged graphic novelist who regularly mines his personal relationships for artistic inspiration. Unlike most of the episodes in the series, this has a distinct point of view with something meaningful to say. "Controlada," the mostly Spanish language episode, showed some promise, but felt driven by the dictates of the script rather than by emotional truth. Despite some strong performances from the likes of Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jane Adams, and Kate Micucci, most of the other episodes lack any weight and are mainly exercises about the minutiae of interpersonal relationships. Now if you are someone with a similar background or going through similar issues with your life, you might find this interesting, but for many others it is simply boring. This is really a shame given the talented actors involved. If "Easy" goes on to a second season, one would hope that Joe Swanberg and company will bring in some additional writers, so that the series can really have some diversity and to broaden its artistic palette. If that happens, instead of being a largely forgettable series with a few bright spots, "Easy" could really blossom into something special.
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SEASON 1
I watched the first episode of this. It's an anthology, so it's hard to know how the other episodes compare, but I could not get into this one. It had a vaguely interesting start, but the low-key, improvisational feel made it a little too close to real life to be all that interesting. I just didn't care about these people or their problems, and didn't make it to the end of the episode.
Seems like something some people might really like, but definitely not good for me.
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SEASON 1
Easy is a Netflix Original Series that follows the lives of different people all living in Chicago as they fumble through the modern maze of love, sex, technology, and culture.
With that all out of the way, this is a terribly written, lousy TV series. With weird capping plot holes and very poorly developed plot lines, the episodes stumble through bad comedy with very obvious agenda pushing undertones. Some of the comedy and plot lines are so forced I felt like I was getting lectured rather than showing a Television show. They tackle issues in such a stereotypical and poorly executed manner that they ruin any chance of interest or insight into them.
The only upside I could see is that many of the actors performed quite well and some of the set designs are really nice.
All in all, I say give this one a pass.
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SEASON 1
Tries too hard to seem naturalistic but nobody in reality talks like that. It just has the effect that many of the conversations are unbearable. And it's just BLA BLA BLA while not much of substance comes across. But they are all very easy and fun. If that was the purpose of the whole thing, saying nothing but very casually, then they succeeded.
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SEASON 1
