Eastsiders

Set in what appears to be Silverlake in LA, Eastsiders describes itself as a "dark comedy"...but the writing had nothing worth laughing at. The ACTING on the other hand was in fact laughable in a face-palm kind of way-- an example being one of the leads, John Halbach, obliviously miscast as a straight character...because his boyfriend, the writer and other lead (surprise!) didn't have the courage to say, "oh, honey...no...you don't "do" straight very well". This is one of those projects where all the parts were written as vehicles for these aspiring writer-director-actors to showcase their particular abilities (or lack thereof) to potentially catch someone's eye for future projects (an example being a scene where one particularly bland actor, Matthew McKelligon gets to speak Schweizerdeutsch..to show he can). Luckily, however, this forum did appear to help a certain brilliant and amazing star, Constance Wu (who was the ONLY reason I watched this mess). Although the writing for her is pretty much as predictable and stale as the rest of the characters (all of whom seem to be written in the tone of an ultra-liberal male feminist), she is the only actor who actually carried the scenes and personalized the character to any depth (she is the only one who really stands out as having formal training). In fact, these 4 VERY generous stars are only because of Constance, who I'm hoping will not have this mess come back to haunt her, in what I hope is a very long and successful career.

Inspiring, real people, real life sensitively portrayed by the series 4 cast. There are so many relatable scenarios, the viewer has to watch again & again as these are brought to life in so many different ways.

Genius!

Finally a series that speaks to a Gay (and general) audience that pretty much ticks all the boxes. It has nuance, humour, heart and soul wrapped in an intelligent script and delivered with expert acting and high production values, to deliver an engaging and touching story that will make most viewers want to watch it all in one sitting. This is everything that its predecessors isn't. It's the series that hits the sparsity of good Gay television choices right out of the ballpark. Eastsiders sets the bar at the level a LGBT audience deserves. Highly recommended! Thank goodness for subscription television! Eastsiders is a stunning example of what channels like Netflix can deliver. I loved this!

I think the younger you are (if you're gay) the more this will resonate with you. The writing is uneven, but the starting premise is interesting. It's infidelity but not just simple infidelity. And the production values and photography are both fine.

Overall, the gay characters are better done than the straight characters. The gay characters are more underwritten, e.g., the actors communicated with their faces/bodies a lot, which is a good thing; it wasn't so dialog driven. The straight characters on the other hand seemed overwritten and, frankly, unconvincing.

As the episodes progress, some of the coincidences are a bit much. And the way people relate to each other doesn't always seem real. A lot of the time it does, but a lot of the time it doesn't.

For those of you with a lot more life experience this will be harder to take. For example, the art gallery/art world shown is like somebody's idea of what that world is like, rather than what it's really like. That's true for a lot of things, including some relationships. However, most of the gay hook ups/relationships were plausible to me because, well, been there done that.

Still, I found this very watchable, even though I knew the quality was just above average. But like I say, the younger you are, the more likely you will be to enjoy it.

EVERYONE should check out this show!!! It's about relationships....and love.....and life....and acceptance. It's funny... and sad ... and beautiful... and poignant.... and smart. When you love someone can you truly love them for the flawed imperfect person they are? Can you forgive? And what can that look like? Certainly it will be flawed and imperfect.... and beautiful. If you are looking for a well written show with great dialogue, fantastic acting and a killer soundtrack head over to Netflix and binge this show (and you WILL binge it)! EastSiders was funded with Kickstarter. Their two episode project on YouTube in 2012 created enough interest and donations to develop a web series. Now with four seasons streaming on Netflix and translated into more than two dozen languages - this is the little series that could. I have fallen in love with these characters as I laughed and cried with them and watched them develop over the years. Did I mention the soundtrack?!?! Song choices and placement are just fantastic. I had made myself a YouTube playlist of my favorite songs from the show (the closing credit songs from the first two episodes still being my all time favorites). Recently I found out the soundtrack is on Spotify and I am over the moon.

This show is a funny, dark, quirky gem filled with flawed and endearing characters. It has angst and laughs and love. I have enjoyed watching it grow and I will miss it. A two episode update every few years, in honor of their two episode beginning, would complete me.... just a check-in to see how they are all doing. Having just watched the final season, I think it's time to rewind to the beginning to see where it all started. Feel free to join me.