In Review: Little Fires Everywhere Episode 1

Whispers of this show and it's watchability has been travelling through the TV world pipeline for quite some time so I have been anxious to get ahold of it. I have never read the book but I have seen the front cover in the windows of various bookstores and it is popular for a reason that I think comes across very well in the first episode. Let me tell you why.

The episode literally starts with a fancy looking house ablaze and consumed by smoke and fire. And the impression is that many relationships and family ties are also being fried to ash too. It pans to Reese Witherspoon holding her gown closed with eyes swimming with tears. She is a cool contrast to the fire. Her blue eyes are the water that you can see that she wants to put out what has been done, but does not know how. The fire was set with little fires all over the house and a character called Izzy is being blamed.

The first episode is called "The Spark" and the episode goes back in time to four months before. It is 1997 and we see Reese's matriarchal character keeping her busy all American family under wraps during breakfast. She has kids going to orchestra camp. She seems to have everything in a tight schedule. She goes to work but on her way there she sees a car with a woman sleeping in it so she reports it to the police. We see that it is not just one woman but two. They are a mother and a daughter who are getting by and who is shown being careful with money and washing themselves in a public bathroom. They are a completely different family unit to that of Elena's and her brigade of  assumed perfection.

Elena meets the women in person when they come to the house viewing of a place that Elena is renting out. She does this at a lower price and even knocks off a little rent even more for them. The mother, Mia is naturally suspicious and untrusting of Elena, and the suburb in general. We find this easy to understand especially when they are given a book with town history and town rules. It is a very white, and middle-class town. Mia is an artist and doesn't seem to take authority and convention very well. Her daughter Pearl is optimistic and starry-eyed over being able to have her own bedroom. We get lots of scenes that show they are very close, yet very different in their perspectives. They discuss 'finding a bed' in a skip while lying in bed and we feel that like Elena. Mia only wants the best memories for her child.

Themes build up such as class when Elena's husband criticises Elena's charitable acts when he quizzes her with the proclamation "you rented to a homeless person?". Meanwhile while Pearl is putting together her salvaged bed in the front lawn Elena's son Moody comes over to meet her and they strike up a friendship. There is a lovely montage of them picking paint and painting the house together. Though, Pearl only ever paints one wall. As they move a lot and it is easy to revert back, she explains.  Elena's relationship with her children isn't as good as it initially seems. She is disconnected with her youngest daughter Isabelle who prefers to be called Izzy. In TV tomboy style she sets her hair on fire because her mum said it is her best feature and wants to wear black all of the time.

The tension brews like a hot cup of spiked tea between Elena and Mia who meet in the street after Mia finishes work at her part time job. Elena attempts to offer her work at her house like cleaning and Mia is offended by that. Elena also tries to encourage Mia to take up portrait photography as this would be popular in the neighbourhood but it is not the type of photography Mia does. She likes to "show people as they really are" and her voice is shrouded by meaning towards Elena and the mask she seems to wear. Elena means well but she has underlying racism she doesn't realise she has and this is an enticing plot device I look forward to seeing more of. The differences between them are highlighted more and more as the episode continues. The knife is shoved deeper into Mia's insecurity as Pearl gets on very well with Elena. Isabelle longs for no rules whereas Pearl almost wants them and is missing the structure. Both daughters find that in their alternative mothers.

The episode ends with trouble. Moody gets Pearl a bike and he takes her to his den in an old van in a junkyard which they get in trouble for being at. Izzy refuses to play at the orchestra and writes "not your puppet" on her forehead. There is a lot of room for some really interesting developments. I am pumped to see Elena and Mia come to blows, but eventually find more common ground and realise their love for their daughters is exactly the same. I am excited for all of the tension in between. All in all there are eight episodes and I might just binge it all now.

You can delve into 'Little Fires Everywhere' on Amazon Prime!

With love and television buzz,
The Serial Television Watcher

In Review: Four More Shots Please Episode 1

I am a bit late on the uptake on this show. Because the first season debuted almost a year ago. But I hadn't seen it on my Amazon Prime before so it seems to be pretty brand new romantic comedy series to the streaming service. The synopsis is "Four unapologetic flawed women live, love, blunder and discover what really makes them tick through friendship and tequila in Millennial Mumbai." Needless to say, it perked my interest. My feminist shows to rely on have dwindled a bit over the years. Since HBO's Girls with Lena Durham ended I have been looking for a similar kind of vibe. Maybe this show will be the one. Mumbai too. That is a city, and a country which does make its way into the mainstream that often and I would love if the representation was realistic and a story that people in Mumbai would see themselves in.

The first episode is titled 'Ambitious. Prude. Feminist. Slut." This makes me put my mug of coffee down in anticipation. There will clearly be a conflict between two alternative ways of looking at feminine behaviour and pushback from society around them. The opening credits have lots of empowering messages and the music is funky and creates a fun introduction to the characters that you would look forward to every time you start an episode. Four more shots equals four main characters and they are all different and going through different things. We have Siddhi who is demure and thicker than most women around her and who is primarily focused on marriage, Damini who hardworking is a news editor who is having daydreams about her doctor, Anjana who is a single mother and spunky Umang who works at a gym.

We are allowed windows into the day that all the women are having. There are funny elements like  when Damini goes to the doctor who she can't repress herself from flirting with, writes "bathe three times a day" on her notes. I love the brashness of the humour. The four women all meet up at the end of the day at a bar called 'The Truck Stop' where they all band together and relax, and let loose and be themselves around each other. The actresses are really good at portraying a closeness and a unity between them. They make silly jabs and laugh together and it's a lot of fun to watch. The women use quite a few Americanisms like "kick it in the balls" and "respect, bro!". It shows millennial Mumbai as a multicultural and evolutionary in their language and how they conduct themselves. The bartender judges them slightly but seems to accept them which shows that this isn't normal behaviour for Indian women and some people have to adjust to this. But the bartender willing because he says that they aren't allowed any "sissy cocktails!" This is almost a loving sentence because he doesn't want them to stick to the status quo.

Anjana has a moment which I really like, which is when she drunkenly preaches ""Reason for divorce is marriage" which is modern thinking yet laced with pessimism that seems to poison her mind and exposes the hurt and disappointment that she has deep inside. Even though she seems one of the most enlightened women; she is not the happiest for it and exposes how you can long for tradition even if you know you should be rebelling against it. I like that this show shows that battle even in the first episode. Before they leave Damini has a moment with the bartender who watches her curiously as she lines up shot glasses perfectly but she doesn't notice him. Oh, what's that I spy? Oh, yes, a love triangle. I'm sure we will see a lot of that in the series. That's not my favourite type of story but I think it will be sweet seeing Damini realise someone wants her as much as she thinks she wants the doctor.

The women are so tipsy and confident that they throw a rock and break the neon lights outside of the bar from 'truck' to 'fuck'. They aren't afraid to do things like this which almost shows that they live in a bit of a privileged bubble where there are no consequences in a country full of consequences usually. Because the bartender won't press charges because he likes them they feel that they have the freedom. And they grab at the freedom with all of their might! They all go home to lives with people they care for but which also hold them down or to loneliness. Anjana says "asshole" in front of her daughter who skips around school repeating it. Anjana seems to get a hard time from the other mothers anyway because of her marital status "First she couldn't control her husband now her poor kid". She flips the mothers off which is a deeply gratifying action to watch.

Damini is called a "girl" and not a woman in court and the narrative of gender inequality builds like a flower drenched in fertilizer. My favourite quote of the episode is when Damini and Anjana are walking away from court next to a park full of mostly men and boys and Anjana asks a question: "What is the difference between condoms and men? They are no longer thick and insensitive."
"Anji, that's really sexist."
"2000 years of patriarchy, man."
That interaction and I hope that is one out of many to come in the two series that has been released.

Old traditions seem to hound Siddhi the most who is being forced to take singing lessons to get the interest of potential suitors and being harshly criticised by her mother, The instrument breaks which is a funny moment, but also hints that Siddhi is soon going to break out of the rut of her life. Afterwards she looks at herself in the mirror in a bra and knickers and then gives up and eats a chocolate bar. Everyone in the show is fighting an internal battle. And some are fighting external battles too. Damini is now being forced to censor her stories and Umang yelled at a Bollywood actress at a gym. It seems that she is instantly apologetic because she is famous but it seems deeper than that and if you look more closely, it might be because she fancies her. It only takes a few minutes for this to be confirmed at the end when she makes out with a girl in the bathroom at the Truck Stop. I love that this show doesn't leave out sexuality and it is a brave and bold storyline for a Mumbai filmed show to have.

In conclusion I think 'Four More Shots Please' has a lot to give. If I had to compare it to anything I would say it's 20% Derry Girls meets 50% Sex And The City 30% Girls like I already referenced.

Give it a watch yourself on Amazon Prime.