The first thing that popped up on my Hulu Recommendations today was Am I Being Unreasonable (2022):
Unfulfilled in her marriage, Nic is grieving a loss that she can’t share with anyone. But when Jen arrives in town, Nic's life is lit up with laughter and through this kindred soul her dark secret starts to surface.
It does not sound like my cup of tea at all, but, maybe there's a lesbian subtext, and Sam Bottomley, who I've met, is in the cast, so let's go.
Scene 1: Nic, a middle aged lady, is waiting for a train outside at night, when her husband Alex( David Flynn) calls her over. He wrote "Merry Xmas" in the snow with his pee. Hey, there's a pound on the tracks. Alex wants to climb down and get it, but the train is coming! He'll kill himself!
Nope. They get on the train -- well, Nic on the train, Alex on the "mind the gap," They discuss how much they love each other, and kiss. Uh-oh, when the doors close, his coat is stuck! No time to pull it off -- he's dragged to...Moral: Boys should only kiss boys.
Scene 2: Nic watching tv with her son Ollie ( played by Lenny Rush, who has SED, a congenital disorder that results in dwarfism and bone problems). They're discussing which soap opera character is a tramp, but it's time for school, so Ollie, the responsible one, jumps on his scooter. The Snooty Neighbor is driving her kid to school, but doesn't offer them a lift: Nic fumes all the way down the lane, while Ollie advises her to let it go. Nice location shots of a quaint British village.
Scene 3: Back home, Nic is playing on her cell phone, when her friend comes in, hysterical because she hit a pheasant in her car. She describes the experience in gruesome detail.
Scene 4: Nic watches a soap opera on her phone in the cemetery, flashes back to her husband's death, and screams. Later, Husband Dan (Dustin Demri-Burns) comes in, says "I'm sorry I'm late," which I dislike: everyone who comes on stage in every tv show always says "Sorry I'm late."
He hugs Ollie. His son? So this is Nic's second husband? His pants have a wet stain in the front, so while he changes, they discuss their missing cat and a "fat fuck" who isn't using the internet properly.
We cut to Nic having sex with her first husband, Alex -- no beefcake. Wait -- he's not a husband, he's a side piece! So Nic can't tell anyone about her grief over his death. That happens a lot with LGBT people; you're not out to your family, so when your partner dies, or is sick, or breaks up with you, you can't say a word.
Cut to Nic glaring at her husband while he sleeps. She asks on an advice site if anyone else has a husband who "gives her the ick so much that her fanny dries up." Does "fanny" mean something different in Britain?
Scene 5: At some sort of carnival at Ollie's school. Nic is running a game called Splat the Rat. She meets one of the other mothers, Jen. They bond over complaining about people, gaze into each other's eyes, laugh. Lesbian romance?
Ollie's friend doesn't want to play Splat the Rat because he might miss; he just wants the maoam, fruit-flavored candy. Jen argues that it would be against the rules, but Nic gives him the maoam anyway, just to get rid of him so she and Jen can flirt some more.
Jen produces some booze. Nic: "I could kiss you!" Jen: "Don't do that, just make it weird." If you're not into a lesbian romance, why are you flirting so aggressively?
Scene 6: Nic introduces Jen to Mr. Graham, the gym teacher: "He's a bit of me," which I think means "He's hot." she shows him how to Splat the Rat by holding him from behind, but Snooty Neighbor gets jealous and breaks them up. She announces that they're going give Ollie 20% of the proceeds from the carnival, because he's...um....you know...that way. This angers Nic, and embarrasses Jen and Mr. Graham.
Scene 7: Nic and Ollie return home to a drinking-in-the-dark, crying Husband. We are not told why.
More after the break
Scene 8: Someone finds the lost cat. To celebrate, Jen offers to come over tonight, and bring her son Harry and some wine.
Ulp, it's the wrong cat! "But I walked two miles carrying him! Do you want him, or...>"
Nic tells her Husband that Jen is coming over tonight; "she sort of invited herself." "Wow -- must be love." Well, love or obsession. This is a dark comedy -- she'll be having a hidden agenda, innit?
Scene 9: Jen arrives. Husband wants to "whack a movie," but they insist that he get lost, and take the kids with him, so they can be alone. "Ok, we'll go bowling." He's awfully nonchalant about what is obviously a lesbian hookup.
They drink, dance, sing "Put your hand down my pants, and I'll bet you'll feel nuts." Then...they order a pizza and discuss ex-boyfriends? No snogging?
Husband and the kids return. Nic tells him to make up the bunk in Ollie's room, because Jen and her son are staying over. So, Hubbie dear, you can take the couch.\
Scene 10: The adults play "sticky heads," where a post-it with a person's name on it is attached to your forehead, and you have to figure out who it is. Jen is Dick Van Dyke, Nic Scrooge McDuck, and Husband Henry VIII..
Hubbie goes to bed, and Nic gets serious: "The one thing I'm lacking in my life is real, intense passion." Jen's never had that, but Nic has: "With a guy named Alex. He was my side piece for years and years." So why didn't you dump your husband for him?
Uh-oh, Jen is filming her confession. So that's her hidden agenda! She's the dead guy's sister or wife, out for revenge or something. The end.
Beefcake: A little of Alex.
Gay Subtext: Nic and Jen, of course.
Gay Characters: A gay-stereotype best friends shows up in Episode 2. One of the photos looks like Husband Dan gets a gay side piece of his own
Will I Keep Watching: Nic is a nasty person -- in America comedy characters always have to be people you'd like to have as friends, but in Britcoms, they're often disagreeable. The lengthy conversations about things I don't understand are a bit dull. But I'm interested in Jen's end games, I like Lenny Rush as the only reasonably functional person in the family, and Sam Bottomley has not appeared yet. Maybe I'll watch another episode or two.
Update: Some Big Reveals. Nic is not just disagreeable, she's full-blown psycho. And her son is not the moral center of the family, he's an apprentice serial killer.
The bonus hubbie cock is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends
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