Hal & Harper

What makes "Hal & Harper" immediately compelling, beyond the sharp script and the magnificent performances from the entire ensemble cast, is a bit of a mystery that slowly and tragically unfolds. It's clear something unfortunate happened to this family a long time ago, but it's not made perfectly clear until a few episodes in. But even after that mystery is revealed another element of the show's execution adds a layer of both entertainment and emotion.

With its pitch-perfect handling of extremely complex emotions and situations, and a truly remarkable cast across the board, we need more shows as emotionally vulnerable and beautifully earnest as Hal & Harper.

The thing that makes the show so successful is the straightforward family drama underneath this whimsical veneer—tenderly played, sharply written, and delivering a perfect balance of bitter and sweet.

Though Pen15 started out as an extended comedy sketch, it figured out quickly that it could tell genuine, poignant stories of childhood and adolescence, even if its girls were being played by grown-ass women. Hal & Harper starts in that more serious place, and does some powerful things there.

While the show lacks a bit of focus and structure in its early episodes, the hourlong finale (most episodes are 30 minutes) snaps everything into place.

The chemistry between its cast is what makes Hal & Harper both a comedic and dramatic success, equally tugging at our heartstrings and making us chuckle.

But it is the luminescent performance from Reinhart as the binding agent that calms Hal’s boyish ways that sticks with you the most.

Hal & Harper is ultimately a rewarding watch, though likely one that works better week-to-week than as a binge. It's a series that wears its heart on its sleeve, for better or worse, and takes its time in unraveling these characters and what makes them tick.

“Hal & Harper” isn’t much of a TV show (a far stronger movie lurks somewhere within, perhaps even as a pair of movies told from the parents’ and kids’ perspectives, like a familial “Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby”), but it does use its length to put forth an affecting family portrait as unafraid to embrace lasting anguish as it is to wear its heart on its sleeve.