Sweetbitter

I just watched this to pass the time, but I thought it was intriguing enough and found myself finishing the first season. It has the sweetness of a chick flick and the bitterness of an angsty indie film. The main actress is very beautiful and she is captivating to watch. The supporting actors played their parts well. It leaves me feeling empty watching it...there's something sad about the atmosphere of the show...but at the same time it has a dream-like quality about it that makes me long for it. The only thing I don't like about it is how angry or tired of life everyone is, but I think that's what the show wants to evoke. I do look forward to season 2 and more character and storyline development. And I do crave the show.

I decided to give this a shot after seeing constant ads, also being a New Yorker with some experience in fine dining I was interested enough. Unfortunately there were so many glaring issues with this adaptation. The most frustrating part is there are glimmers of what could've been a great show throughout, opportunities squandered at every turn. One of the main issues is our star, Tess. It's hard to distinguish if it's mainly the fault of the writer, director or actor, but all three do their fair share to poison the pot. I get they are going for doe-eyed naivety but come on, give the audience a little credit, or the character some dimension. Everything, I mean everything she looks at she's gawking as if she has just discovered there are other humans on this planet- get's old real quick. Not to mention it's just not believable. NO ONE with her behavior (won't even discuss lack of experience) would last a day in that industry. However, I'm more than willing to suspend belief for plot but this show doesn't deliver the goods. The show does not give you any reason to root for her success except that she is the obvious protagonist and well, I guess you just should. She isn't particularly hard working or respectful, she walks around in a self absorbed bubble the entire season. For a coming of age there is little, if any personal growth exhibited on her end. All of the secondary characters are painfully one note. The season would have been more interesting had they paid more attention to some of them or even made it an ensemble show, as following wide eyed Tess around all day gets tiring. Then there's oh-so-troubled-Jake and I'm-so-illusive Simone. They both seem to have these massive fronts to feign the audience into intrigue, but I'm guessing not much is behind either door. There was no resolution into the season long tension within the 3 or insight into their motivations. The writers either didn't have answers or are holding out hope for a second season, either way not much happens in the first season besides the answer to if Tess will become a permanent hire. Luckily it's a short watch and they didn't milk this plot for a longer run time. I may even give it a chance if it gets renewed, hoping they juice up the writing, flesh out the ensemble and someone slaps that look off of Tess's face.

After watching Belgravia, I was intrigued by Ella Purnell. I thought her performance was the best part of the very British drama Belgravia, and I was curious to see what else she had done.

Ella's British accent was gone as she entered the big city alone and determined to experience everything.

I did enjoy Ella Purnell's performance, but the show struggled in season 2 in particular. It seemed like the show knew it was going to be cancelled and tried to wrap up storylines too quickly at the end of the season.

The Good: I enjoyed hanging out with the staff and getting to know each character. I feel like Simone, Sasha, Ari, and Heather are all part of my life now. Ella had great chemistry with Caitlin FitzGerald who played Simone. I found their relationship the most intriguing, and I would have liked to have seen them explore this on a physical level as well.

The Bad: I had a love with the restaurant in season 1 along with Tess. The restaurant itself loses the feeling that Tess talks about during her job interview in season 1. Perhaps it's intentional to show that Tess is seeing the reality of the restaurant the longer she works there. Howard is getting creepier, the flowers that Tess loved so much in season 1 are gone, shocking horrid scenes in episode 1 season 2 replace the beautiful atmosphere of the restaurant that we grew to love in season 1.

There's only so many nights as a viewer I can hang out at "Home Bar".

The showrunner's never fully explore Tess' family life before she gets to NYC. They do bring up issues in season 2 that allow Tess to reveal more about her past. But it really only touched the surface. Tess at the beginning of the series seemed extremely secretive about her past. We do learn a few things about her, but there were more possibilities to explore.

This was actually a bit of a period piece. The showrunner's intentionally placed the show in the 1990's before cell phones took over. There was a behind the scenes video after one of the episodes explaining how it was different to experience things on your own without posting it to the entire world on social media. The series focus was on walking with Tess as she filled her life with as many new experiences as possible. Tess was extremely open to experience everything she could and take it all in. The episode where she runs out to experience the first snow encapsulated this ongoing theme. Perhaps the showrunners are disillusioned with our current times where people experience so much of their life through their phones.

Conclusion: I'm happy I got to see Ella Purnell before Belgravia. I thought she had excellent performances throughout the series. I enjoyed getting to know the characters at the restaurant. I was disappointed they didn't fully develop the relationship between Tess and Simone. My favorite episode was when Tess spent the day with Simone eating grilled cheese and taking a nap in her tub. The showrunners decided to spend more time with Tess and Jake instead. I found that decision regrettable and less interesting. I do think the series ran its course after 2 seasons. I'm not surprised it wasn't picked up for a third. But I thoroughly enjoyed my time in NYC with Tess, Sasha, Ari, Simone, Heather and Will.

Just finished season 2 on the starz app and loved it! Give us a season 3 with more episodes!

Have made it through 3 episodes which I think is a reasonable shot but that's as far as it goes. Careers from one cliche to another. Perhaps in other hands a show set behind the scenes in an upmarket New York restaurant could yield something a little more than on offer here, but then again perhaps not. It looks great but moody lighting and sultry acting isn't enough. A sit com might have worked better with this material or at least a plot with somewhere to go.