Why Are You Like This: "Three painfully woke best friends negotiate life in contemporary Melbourne." The first episode is entitled "I Love Gay," which sounds a bit patronizing, but ok, maybe there will be some Melbourne scenes or beefcake.
Scene 1: Mia, a young woman of color, in an office, accusing her middle-aged boss of imposing "white normative regulations in order to erase my culture." He still insists on wearing shoes in the office. Plus she's taking five breaks every day "for prayer," even though only two Muslim prayer times fall during work hours. Painfully woke, indeed. He fires her in spite of her "racist!" protests.
Scene 2: One of those hip high-tech companies with pingpong tables and therapy dogs. Guys at computer consoles playing with their cell phones. Penny, a very perky little girl, maybe around ten years old, comes in. I figure she's someone's daughter, but no, she's leading a workshop on toxic masculinity. She tells the men that they aren't good at expressing emotions, which can lead to "yucky" Bill Cosby-style behavior, so let's go around the room and ask each other "are you ok?" The guys think that this is stupid. Instead they plan a men's night with barbecue and games, and ignore Penny (well, would you take advice from someone who still has their baby teeth?)
Opening Credits: The three best friends consist of Mia, Penny, and a man in a dress. Nonbinary, or a drag queen?
Scene 3: Mia tells Penny, who is apparently a grown-up (barely), "I've had a triggering day. I got fired by my racist boss. We need to go out." They discuss makeup and how difficult it is to get tampons out after use (I didn't need to know about that).
They arrive at the bar just in time to see their third friend, Austin, drag name: JonBenet Rams-Me (poor taste, girl). She performs "Skinny Bitches" (I guess Madonna is tired).
Afterwards, they are chatting, when suddenly a drag queen named Paddington Bareback appears in the crowd. They hate her; such a phony, ruined Mia's cousin's wedding, stole the drag queen contest, and drinking grenadine! They decide to fuck up his life. Austin has a lot of experience: when his last boyfriend dumped him, he tore up all his shirts, put detergent in his lube, and poked pinholes in his condoms, so he'd contract AIDS and die.
Scene 4: After such a big set up, I figured that the main plot of this episode would be an attempt to "fuck up his life." But it's morning, on to other things: Mia has to look for a new job; she's got only $400 ($300 U.S. dollars). But she put over $1000 on Penny's credit card last night!
Ok, I looked it up. An average cocktail in downtown Melbourne costs $16. Did they have, like, 40 of them?
She wants a change of job: something outdoorsy, salt-of-the-earth, and preferably with payment under the table so she can screw the Tax Man. So this will be the main plot: Mia's hilarious attempt at farm work?
Scene 5: Penny at her job in some sor of open-plan tech company, planning the Queer Day of Visibility activities. She asks Daniel (from the workshop in Scene 2) his opinion of a rainbow-glitter lunch. He thinks that it's a bit much.
Scene 6: I was right! Mia arrives at a farm, where red-bearded farmer explains that he's going to clear the cows' anal cavities to prepare them for insemination. Her job is to shovel the shit. She goofs off, gets squeamish, and complains "I'm exhausted" after just one cow. Trying to figure out a way to quit, she comes up with "This is rape. You are totally raping these cows."
Scene 7: Back at the office, Daniel climbs over rainbow everything to get to his desk. He accidentally sits on a rainbow flag. Penny glares at him, believing that he is not pro-gay enough, so she prominently displays her screen saver of guys kissing and asks him if he "loves" Mardi Gras. He doesn't: too sexualized. Penny is shocked.
Scene 7: Lunch. Penny asks Daniel if he's stoked about the new season of RuPaul's Drag Race, and is shocked when he says he doesn't watch. She rushes home, where Andrew (still in drag) and Mia are watching tv, and announces "I'm working with a homophobe! He basically said that gay people are disgusting and shouldn't exist!"
Austin suggests killing him, but settles for just destroying his life.
Scene 8: Back at work. Penny squeals to the boss, Richard, about Daniel's homophobia, and insists that he intervene right away..."if you are really an ally."
He calls Daniel in to yell, while Penny looks on smugly. Whoops -- they're smiling. What up? Penny rushes back into the office. Richard: "It's all been sorted out. Nobody meant any harm. Let's just let it go."
Scene 9: Mia at her new job, receptionist in a doctor's office (a female Asian doctor, so no problems with racism or sexism, right? don't bet on it). Paddington Bareback, not in drag, comes in sick, needing to see the doctor right away (no Urgent Care in Australia?). Seeing a chance to destroy him, Mia makes him do a bunch of paperwork. He groans, shivers, clutches his arm while Mia smirks, and then collapses.
The doctor rushes out and ask what's going on. "Don't worry, he's just being dramatic!" Mia exclaims, as the doctor performs CPR.
Scene 10: Fired, Mia goes home and collapses onto the couch. Penny is already there, complaining "My office is full of homophobes." Austin, still in drag, reprimands them for "straight fragility." "I'm bi," Mia reminds him. "Get off your asses and do something! Go to the office party tonight and confront the bigots!"
Scene 11: An office party. Austin, not in drag, annouces to Penny's boss Richard, "I'm gay," expecting a homophobic explosion. Nope. Penny points out the other "homophobe," Daniel, who is at the party with a swishy male friend. Really?
Meanwhile, Mia cruises: "Hi, I'm Mia. Give me all your money so you can go home and jack off that pathetic dick of yours."
Penny rushes over to confront Daniel, spray him with glitter, and tape a sign to his chest: "I am disgusting and shouldn't exist." Meanwhile, Austin reveals that he lost his favorite ring ...um...inside him a few days ago. Daniel is gay! Uh-oh.
Scene 12: Penny, naturally, has to attend a workshop on sensitivity in the workplace.
Scene 13: Back at the apartment, Mia reveals her new job: a financial dominatrix. She insults men into giving her money: "Another $100 or your balls are mine, you worthless soy boy! $200 in an hour, or I'll kill you!" Extortion and death threats -- this had better be consensual role-playing!
Nope -- her victim is Richard, who is terrified. Daniel stops in to console him. Close-up of him wearing the ring that Andrew...um...lost earlier.
Beefcake: None
Other Sights: All interiors.
Gay Characters: Sure.
Disgust: The tampon discussion. Cow insemination. Some audiences might find the detailed discussion of fisting a bit disconcerting.
Sociopaths: These people are all despicable.
Will I Keep Watching: The pilot aired in 2018. All other episodes are from 2021. I want to see if they've made any changes, so probably.