State of the Union

State of the Union follows a couple who meet in a pub immediately before their weekly marital therapy session. Each episode pieces together how their lives were, what drew them together, and what has started to pull them apart. Season 1 is pretty good. It follows Tom and Louise, who are trying to figure out how to do their marriage work if they even can. Both characters are complicated and relatable. And Chris O'Dowd and Rosamund Pike have great chemistry. Season 2, on the other hand, is hard to watch. It is just two people fighting. I didn't like the characters or care if they made it work or not. Plus, it was basically the same every episode. They also tried to add in extra characters, and there just isn't enough time in ten-minute episodes for more than two characters. Brendan Gleeson is a great actor, but he doesn't have much to work with. It was so bad I don't imagine I would watch a third season.

Season 1: 8 Season 2: 4.

Total rating : 7.

Great realistic dialogue and great chemistry between Rosamund Pike and Chris O'dowd. Half of me wants more episodes that are longer and where we follow them into the counseling session. The other half of me is satisfied with these short snapshots into the life of a married couple trying to save their marriage.

Fast paced and purely entertaining from start to finish. The moment an episode ends, it'll leave you wanting more! Great performances and brilliant writing.

I feel like in this day and age when the traditional family is so apparently going into decline, where so many people are prone to the mentality that "if it doesn't work, I'll just start anew and find something that's better," this short little series is extremely refreshing and might provide a cause for some relevant and meaningful reflection.

What I really love about the series is how real the characters feel. Even though we only get to see a short snippet of their lives, the episodes do a great job of showing us how broken they are and the struggle that they are going through.

I don't think I would have enjoyed the series as much if they actually showed the conversations/therapy sessions that they had. Frankly that would have just been predictable/boring drama that I can certainly do without. What the short 10 minute style so brilliantly depicts is the internal struggles that they are grappling with, without any added meaningless cliches and drama.

Also Chris O'Dowd and Roasmund Pike are very likable and have great chemistry together. The conversations they had were quite witty consistently funny throughout without feeling too overly pretentious.

I couldn't recommend this enough to anyone who is even remotely interested after reading the synopsis.

The device of keeping each episode around 10 minutes of running time is absolutely brilliant, because it's definitely a show that you can have a bite at in-between more traditionally long shows, without getting burdened by its repetitive nature. And I say repetitive in a somewhat positive way: it features two characters talking to one another, mostly inside the same pub, and that's about it. Simple, but comforting.

And it works. Largely because the writing is sparkling; the two main characters deliver the dialogues with so much gusto, so much realistic ebbs and flows in mood that I couldn't help believing that they really had been a couple for many years.