Social Distance

It's difficult to make any show about the "right now" without seeming mawkish, awkward, dated or rushed and unfortunately this well-meaning anthology series often dunks into all four categories (sometimes all in one episode) - but in these unprecedented times it definitely deserves marks for trying. Technologically it's quite smart and is varied enough to keep it interesting. To pull it together at all is a serious achievement but the nature of doing so quickly means the majority of stories feel a bit "first drafty" and either have too many endings or not enough of them. There are some diamonds here though - the touching funeral episode, the cathartic threesome episode and the genuinely sharp final episode "Pomp and Circumstance" which I feel like people may be analyzing in a decade's time as a sort of allegorical microcosm of what tensions where at play in the US this crazy year.

So yes - a fascinating effort to "make TV safely" in the era of the virus - and like any anthology it has highs and lows but in its earnest attempts to encapsulate American humanity in these times it may have accidentally done just that. So, fair play, but more drafts required if it gets another go.

What's with the low rating? Mind-blowing! It's a GREAT anthology series about the lockdown and how people coped with it. It's sad, it's funny, it's real and raw.

Whatever your situation was during the lockdown, you'll most probably find it in one of the episodes. It's so frustrating when silly superhero films or action movies have 8-9 stars, and good simple films have only 4 stars? Wow... people shouldn't be able to rate here without some minimum requirements.

Very progressive, so if you find yourself leaning more conservative, be mindful of which episodes you watch. If you're a covid denier, anti-masker, marriage, struggle to empathize with people who have different life experiences than you, or hate BLM this is definitely not the show for you. If you can put your personal beliefs aside for a few hours, it's a solid watch. Hell, it's not like there's much left to watch 6 months into our quarantining.

Boy do they navigate it all, nothing seems off limits. The episode on the husband trying to navigate raising his son alone while his wife quarantines in a separate part of the house was pretty heartbreaking. I really feel for the families that are/were trying to navigate this level of fear and uncertainty. In many cases, the series makes light of some very dark experiences, so if you're not ready to do that, probably pass it by.

I'm pretty impressed with the acting all things considered. While not every vignette feels professionally acted, it's still impressive to see how they managed to navigate the scenes where they're most likely talking to only a camera. The children definitely steal every scene they're in and often bring lightness into their vignettes.

Overall, I found the show to be often laugh out loud funny as it put on screen the real conflicts we're navigating as a country. From navigating parenting, quarantining, boredom, addiction, and death. As my quarantine has been pretty uneventful, it's given me a lot of perspective on what others might be going through.

This series is very good. It's timely and breaks down the current quarantine from different perspectives. Bravo for memorializing current events as we move through the pandemic instead of waiting until we're on the other side.

2020 is going to mean so many things to so many people. This captures many stories, many different perspectives, and many different experiences of quarantine 2020.