When I saw this show appear on my Netflix subscription it almost looked like a documentary. The subject and the thumbnail just made me feel like it should be. As I start watching it there is definitely a feeling of autobiographical significance. Orthodox Judaism isn't something I know that much about (Most of what I know is from shows like 'Transparent' which highlights the better side of Judaism) , and I feel Netflix has done a great thing creating something like this.
Anyway, back to the review. In an arthouse kind of style the episode throws us into the life- and the preparation a young woman called Esty to make an escape from her house. Esty is a sullen character that carries a lot of baggage and a sad glint in her eye. It is obvious that she is suffering yet she is worldly and smart to be hatching an escape plan. We see her interact with other Jewish women and we see very fast that she is an exception to the norm.
With the help of her piano teacher, she acquires a passport and manages to leave New York for Berlin. And we see how her unattendance affects her husband as he goes to a Sabbath lunch gathering and she doesn't turn up. The melancholy in the room is icy and full of expectation and tension and it is no wonder Esty wants to get far, far away. Though the episode doesn't give us an overload of information why.
Even though Berlin isn't that structurally different to New York, it seems that everyhting has changed for Esty. As she is picked up by a taxi, her whole body language changes and she seems lighter and more curious like there is nothing dragging her down. She sits in a square in Berlin and she watches a woman as she waits. I felt as if this might be her mother but then another woman joins her and kisses her and Esty runs from the scene. I like this as it gives a lot of subtext to how sheltered Esty is and how something as normal as two women kissing would repel her and make her think of sin. So even though she is leaping out of the constrictions she was stuck in, there are still lessons of Judaism that are much harder to shift.
Flashbacks show us so much more of the type of person Esty was pre-marriage. Her looks are completely different. Her hair is long, full, blonde-like a doll! There is a stark change to how she looks in the present with a short brown bob and less fitted clothes. The flashbacks show an undeniable love for her grandma who I assume has passed away. The flashbacks show her being match-maked to her husband and being stared at by family of her soon-to-be husband like she is livestock in a really bizarre scene in a supermarket. Surrounded by Jewish traditional food, Esty is sized up on whether she fits the mould for a good wife.
Halfway through the episode we see Esty navigating Berlin adjusting to the people around her. There are shots of Muslim women and couples making out in coffee shops which paint the picture of things that Esty is not used to yet. There is a juxtaposition of Esty walking through a city with freedom to roam and her husband on the other side of the world sticking to zebra crossings and wondering where he went wrong. There is a sweet scene of Esty entering a coffee shop and asking for a coffee. "Just a coffee" and a man to the side of her suggests that she means an 'americano'. She helps him carry his multiple trays of coffee over to the music institute where he studies around the corner. She watches the group play music and is invited along with them to explore Berlin and to go to the beach. They fling off their outer clothes and Esty is introduced to just being a young person among other young people and how they act. I love all of this.
You see Esty's need for liberation blossom in front of you. She walks into the lake which has a dark history in the holocaust but she doesn't let herself be tied down with the remorse Jews are pushed into. She pulls off her brown hair which you don't quite suspect is a wig and floats on her back and you feel, for the first time in her life, she is relaxed and allowed to be. Another interesting flashback happens with her husband and the first time they have a conversation. He talks about a trip to Europe (slightly foreshadowing there!) and she listens, and replies "You went all the way to Europe and all you saw were graves?" And I think that hits nail on the head of what the show is trying to convey about the religion and the heritage, and everything in between. It is bold, and it is important.
Esty and her husband when they meet seem like kindred spirits but there is still a separation there and I think the answer is the gender gap. The episode delves into more details such as Esty being given piano lessons despite the rules of her sex. We see the repetition of the greeting "good sabbath" and those who do not say it and how they stick out like a sore thumb. All of this adds together like a satisfying puzzle.
Towards the end of the episode it is discovered from a voicemail on her phone she left behind in New York that she is due to have an ultra scan. The men assume this is because of pregnancy but I am not so certain. I feel that it could be fake as Esty leaves the phone on the bed purposefully. But you and I will both have to watch more episodes to see if that theory holds up. The episode finishes with a flashback of her mother giving her documents that she has a right to German citizenship even though she doesn't want it at the time. This seems to have planted the seed that would take place in the years up to her deciding to leave and I love that detail. Finally, the episode is peppered with so many endearing moments with Esty and we feel every moment of her vulnerability and resourcefulness when it comes to finding somewhere to sleep for the night. She is a fascinating character and I think that there is way more to find out.
Check out Unorthdox on Netflix!
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