Easy

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 22, 2016
Season #: 3, 2, 1
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 51 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 51
  3. Negative: 14 out of 51

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User Reviews

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  1. Indiefilmlover
    Sep 26, 2016
    6
    "Easy" has some worthwhile moments, but after a few episodes you're reminded that all eight of them were written by the same person. There's a sameness to the characters and their situations that gets tiring after a while. Most episodes involve a thirtysomething couple dealing with some aspect of parenting. Either someone gets pregnant, is trying to get pregnant or is raising a small"Easy" has some worthwhile moments, but after a few episodes you're reminded that all eight of them were written by the same person. There's a sameness to the characters and their situations that gets tiring after a while. Most episodes involve a thirtysomething couple dealing with some aspect of parenting. Either someone gets pregnant, is trying to get pregnant or is raising a small child. Not once do you see a couple with teen-aged children. Significantly, the series is set in Chicago which is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States, but is also one of the most segregated. The latter aspect of Chicago stands out the most here. With few exceptions, "Easy" focuses primarily on the lives of mostly white hipsters and artist types of a certain age. Absent are blue collar types, the extremely wealthy, the aged, and to a large extent, people of color. If this were a typical series that featured a small cast of regulars like "Seinfeld" or "Friends," this wouldn't be so noticeable, but as an anthology series set in a large metropolitan city, this lack of diversity really stands out after a few episodes. This is not to say there is no diversity, but not as much as you would expect. Men of color are largely ignored. About half of the episodes feature black women to some degree, but in each case their romantic relationships are all with white people. Conversely, the two episodes that feature black men with more than a bit role, none of them have any onscreen romantic relationships. Another episode features a Latino couple and their friend (who all speak in Spanish), but otherwise Latinos are mostly absent from the series. A couple of episodes have small featured roles for Asian women, but Asian men are practically invisible. Clearly, the best episode is "Art and Life," which features Marc Maron as a middle aged graphic novelist who regularly mines his personal relationships for artistic inspiration. Unlike most of the episodes in the series, this has a distinct point of view with something meaningful to say. "Controlada," the mostly Spanish language episode, showed some promise, but felt driven by the dictates of the script rather than by emotional truth. Despite some strong performances from the likes of Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jane Adams, and Kate Micucci, most of the other episodes lack any weight and are mainly exercises about the minutiae of interpersonal relationships. Now if you are someone with a similar background or going through similar issues with your life, you might find this interesting, but for many others it is simply boring. This is really a shame given the talented actors involved. If "Easy" goes on to a second season, one would hope that Joe Swanberg and company will bring in some additional writers, so that the series can really have some diversity and to broaden its artistic palette. If that happens, instead of being a largely forgettable series with a few bright spots, "Easy" could really blossom into something special.… Expand
  2. cherold
    Feb 4, 2018
    4
    I watched the first episode of this. It's an anthology, so it's hard to know how the other episodes compare, but I could not get into this one. It had a vaguely interesting start, but the low-key, improvisational feel made it a little too close to real life to be all that interesting. I just didn't care about these people or their problems, and didn't make it to the end of the episode.I watched the first episode of this. It's an anthology, so it's hard to know how the other episodes compare, but I could not get into this one. It had a vaguely interesting start, but the low-key, improvisational feel made it a little too close to real life to be all that interesting. I just didn't care about these people or their problems, and didn't make it to the end of the episode.

    Seems like something some people might really like, but definitely not good for me.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Best TV Season of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Caroline Framke
    Sep 26, 2016
    50
    It throws a wide array of actors, including Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Aya Cash, Marc Maron, Elizabeth Reaser, Orlando Bloom, and Raúl Castillo, into varying scenarios about love, sex, marriage, and everything in between, and the results are, predictably, mixed. In the end, though, the series indulges way more mundane ramblings than anything particularly interesting.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Sonia Saraiya
    Sep 23, 2016
    60
    And yet one wishes that Swanberg had tried a bit harder to get out of his intimate, meandering comfort zone. It would be interesting to see what Swanberg would produce if he gave himself a more difficult challenge.
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  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Sep 22, 2016
    80
    There are moments in each episode when a disarming sincerity shines through, and you realize that you’re seeing that rarity of rarities: television characters who are having substantive, free-ranging conversations about something other than their own needs, and finding themselves getting closer to something like mutual understanding. This is hard to do without coming off as pompous or Polyannaish, but Easy makes it look easy.
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