Enlightened

So here we have Mike White doing what he does best: spearheading a project that's one part subversive, one part cynical, one part hopeful and one part lethally and blackly comic.

Enlightened works on many levels because of this but it's also this uber-quirky quality that turns a lot of people who don't have the patience or the understanding of what they're watching off.

Dern's Amy Jellicoe character is not likable, which is a huge gamble from the get-go,especially for a female character; men on TV shows - as in real life - tend to be given far more leeway, to say the least. All the characters on the show are deeply flawed, of course, but these people are not caricatures, they're all three-dimensional and doing the best they can at their respective levels of consciousness.

It's interesting how Amy, beginning in season one, had been trying to find some sort of inner peace but soon as she returns to work at her vile company, that intention flies out the window.Rather than quitting her job, as anyone who genuinely was seeking peace would most likely do, she stays and takes on a new, seemingly better, more 'important' ego identity: agent of change. This is hilarious to me, because in substituting one ego identity for another she is still as lost and as fragmented as she was in the very beginning, if not more so. I'm hoping that White understands this, because I'm not sure how enlightened he actually is(because the actual subject of the title has not been dealt with in anything but superficial terms), but either way it plays as good television.

My favorite episode was the one in season two called The Ghost Is Seen, where White's basically sadsack character Tyler narrates instead of Amy, sharing with the audience about how he feels invisible, how he's lonely, how his life has been empty, until he meets Eileen, played beautifully by the always wonderful Molly Shannon. Ironically, of course - this is a Mike White show, remember - he's in the process of betraying her as they speak, breaking into her computer to get lethally damaging evidence against the company. This episode was brilliantly written and enacted, with White's voice-over narration being profoundly moving.

I only hope he gets a chance for a third season; in light of all the garbage that gets renewed - like Girls, for instance - I think this show warrants another shot, at the very least. UPDATED 3/20/13: Cancelled. Too subversive for HBO, apparently. Not surprised.

Enlightened is about a woman who was unable to cope with a series of accumulated stresses in her life and decided to seek treatment. She returns to her life with a new awareness and feels compelled to share and engage people in that awareness to effect positive change around her, but she finds herself running up against resistance due to fear of change. The people around her are all coping with stress in their lives in various other ways. It's about confronting the loneliness and isolation that you can feel when your perspective differs from those around you, and how that loneliness is at odds with your desire to connect, help, and heal those around you. At the end of the day it's about the serenity prayer, about Amy learning the wisdom to know the difference between what she can change, and what she can't. A lot of mistakes are made in the process, but her heart is in the right place, and any introspective viewer will be able to relate to the struggle. I highly recommend it.

If you're into subtle, sometimes dark humour with a twist of quirk, you'll get a kick out of this one.

I watched Season 1 & 2 back to back so its fair to say I was addicted. The episodes are short, yet packed with enough substance that you'll be left wanting more.

Dern's character is likable just not to anyone she knows. After suffering a breakdown, she returns to her life with higher hopes of - everything. Don't we all wish for a better world? What I like about Dern's character is that she has good intentions. She's just completely misunderstood by everyone around her and is dismissed as a neurotic maniac with no sense of self awareness.

She desperately wants to find a purpose in life but eventually makes 'good' with what she's got and.. its interesting enough.

The character development is well written and does a good job to explore the complexity of human relationships. There's unexpected humour and awkwardness and ultimately I felt myself rooting for Dern to 'stick it to the big guys!

Its kind of like 30 Rock had a baby with Weeds that was raised by Broad City. Highly recommended.

I'm hoping I'm not the only one out here who loves HBO's Enlightened. While still a bit uneven script to script, Laura Dern and Mike White's show is quirky, funny, irritating, raw, and human - bringing to mind Michael Tolkin's 1994 film, The New Age, minus the corrosive cynicism.

Dern portrays 'seeker' Amy Jellicoe straight up, with all her foibles: unvarnished, selfish, pretentious and trying hard to change. I'm pretty sure most of us get Amy's brand of supercilious self-righteousness, the kind we get when we want so much to change others, while avoiding the change that begins with ourselves. Co-creator Mike White is heartbreakingly sympathetic, hilarious and a great foil for Dern.

Unfortunately Enlightened brings to mind a few other wonderful shows where our imaginary friends disappeared within a season or so: My So Called Life, Beggars and Choosers, Canada's Intelligence, among them. Sometimes the grit is just a little too real, the subject a little too off-beat for mass consumption, with broadcasters not giving a show enough time to find its feet, and audiences robbed of the chance to bond with character.

With apologies to Jimi Hendrix, a toast to Enlightened, 'Let your freak flag fly.'

I started Enlightened around a week ago, mostly because the Golden Globes put it on the spot. As far as first seasons go, this was an excellent one. It balances comedy and drama extremely well. Some episodes are more dramatic, some more comedic, but it always remains top notch.

Laura Dern in the character of Amy is completely fantastic. She owns this character, which is perhaps one of TV's most fascinating and confusing. Amy has our sympathy, we still want her to succeed, and she always pretty much wants to look at things in a positive way. The problem is though, she isn't the person she wishes. She makes you feel her problems, yet also cringe and shake your head at the way she approaches aspects in her life. She's a good person who wants to do good things, but she can also be extremely selfish and lacks any sort of self-awareness. Even in her most sticky situations, you want to root for her but you see her like many of her co-workers do... in a negative light. Dern sells it all. Diane Ladd is also pretty fantastic as her distant, yet also sympathetic and sometimes infuriating mother. But even she gets her own episode, which is perhaps the show's most touching and dramatic episode.

Overall, this is an excellent mix of drama with both dark and light comedy. I feel it's sort of underrated and has gotten lost among other big-name shows.