Social Distance

Even when Social Distance focuses on the pandemic — a desperate father (Peter Scanavino) cares for his toddler while his COVID-stricken wife (Ali Ahn) quarantines in a bedroom 10 feet away — there’s a humanity to the stories' specificity.

In spite of Social Distance’s obvious highs and lows, I watched the whole series with the memory of that first episode — or, at least, the episode Netflix served me as “first” — lingering in my mind. It was just such a comfort to watch something about this year that felt truly sad. Social Distance doesn’t offer any answers about this moment, but in lieu of answers, I’ve realized that I will happily accept some honesty.

The episodes we watched did fine during the funny parts, not as fine during the serious ones. ... But what we appreciated was the sophisticated nature of the humor we saw in each 16-22-minute episode. ... It’s also refreshing to not hear those [“remember when we did this?”] lines, and just have stories about how the humans relate to each other has so utterly changed because of COVID. Let’s hope the rest of the episodes follow suit.

“Social Distance” is filled with clear-eyed acting from an impressive ensemble, which also includes Mike Colter, Peter Scanavino, and Ali Ahn. But the narratives themselves feel rushed, and not just because of their breezy 20-minute runtimes.

Aspects of the episode (with an ensemble cast led by Oscar Nunez) were funny enough, but there didn’t seem to be enough of a meaningful takeaway — members of this squabbling family ultimately vow to get together when they can — to justify the sit.

Only three of the eight chapters manage to transcend the overall feel of the series, which could be summed up as “thinly fictionalized stories of news articles you’ve probably read, told via disappointingly uneven performances.” ... Quarantine forced its stories to be small, but the series is ultimately undermined by the meekness of its own ambitions.

It’s unfortunately just tedious. It’s clearly an experiment, but nothing here is particularly groundbreaking. It does not reframe the conversation enough, unless you derive pleasure from self-torment or degradation.