We’re not worthy. (No, really.)
***
NO DAY BUT… ANOTHER DAY: Okay, full disclosure: When the summer began, I didn’t really know who Michaela Coel was.
I had read good things along the way about the first show she created, wrote and starred in called Chewing Gum, a two-season British sitcom based on her play, Chewing Gum Dreams. But that series popped onto the scene in her native UK in 2015, just as another tidal wave of new streaming series was cresting stateside, and it got lost in the shuffle of my seemingly endless list of buzzy-but-I’ll-get-to-them shows.
Well, time passes, the list grows, other things get bumped to the top and I still hadn’t watched it.
Beep, bop, bloop, blerg. The cycle continues. You feel me.
Fast-forward to this spring, when I was making the rounds on HBO Max to get my weekly Insecure and Perry Mason fix (ya heard), and I caught a preview for a new show. The trailer grabbed me, but the mash-up of scenes made me wonder WTF it was actually about.
Is this a drama, or a comedy? Seems to tackle serious stuff, but some of these shots are giving me opposite ‘LOL’ vibes? And is the title really I May Destroy You? What does that even mean?
I couldn’t quite crack it, and the fact that it was landing at the end of a full-tilt TV season with Emmy nominations screening and dream balloting to be done, I chalked it up to just another show to add to ‘the list’ for later.
And there it lingered alongside Chewing Gum and so many others, just waiting for the chance to be watched.
A WEEKEND WATCH WELL WORTH THE WAIT: On an unexpectedly overcast midsummer Saturday afternoon (Chicago weather, amirite?), I found myself free to hit the couch for a mini-binge marathon. Something different with a darker tone was a total mood for me that day with the grey clouds and temporary cool down in full effect.
Scrolling through the ‘watch list’ on my phone with one hand and Apple TV with the other, I almost simultaneously came across I May Destroy You.
Yassss! I had been meaning to check this out. Riiight! It’s by the same woman who did that show Chewing Gum. Oooh! Love that it’s half-hour episodes so I can make a dent. Also! I have absolutely no idea what I’m getting into.
The decision was made. I hit ‘play.’
And welp, holy sh*t.
YOU GOTTA GET INTO IT TO GET IT: Approximately three hours and six episodes later, you basically had to peel me off the couch and collect the pieces of my blown mind scattered across my living room like a glitter bomb had just gone off.
Yup, it really is that good.
Knowing how the series’ many story threads braid together into a tangled and twisty dramatic knot, I now get why I had a hard time pinning down what was happening in the preview: There isn’t anything else like this on TV.
Since watching I May Destroy You feels like being hit by the creative equivalent of a Tube train at max speed without even being given a heads up to ‘mind the gap,’ I’m going tread lightly on how much I say about it.
So, instead, I’ll leave it to HBO for a short, spoiler-free snapshot:
Where does liberation end and exploitation begin? Set in London, this fearless, frank and provocative series centers on Arabella (Michaela Coel), a carefree, self-assured Londoner with a group of great friends, a boyfriend in Italy and a burgeoning writing career. But when she is spiked with a date-rape drug, Arabella must question and rebuild every element of her life.
And believe me, it’s so much more than that summary even begins to suggest. The show is one-of-a-kind, simultaneously super specific and everything at once—and it’s all courtesy of British uber-talent, creator-writer-producer-actor Michaela Coel.
A NEW VOICE AMONG AND ABOVE EQUALS: HBO has a long-standing, unmatched reputation for scooping up young, multi-hyphenate talent and giving them a creative home with room to run. Some recent examples are Lena Dunham (Girls), Bill Hader (Barry) and Issa Rae (Insecure, A Black Lady Sketch Show)—all of whom, together, more or less define the network as we know it at the moment.
But importing Michaela Coel for their roster of up-and-coming creators is a coup on a whole other level.
In fact, I dug I May Destroy You so much that I put Coel and the fully realized quality of her show’s 12 episodes on-par with fellow trifecta talent from across the Pond, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and the second season of her hit series (and 2019 Emmy champ), Fleabag, which Amazon got dibs on.
And you all know how I feel about the notorious Ms. PWB, so this praise is hard-earned and legit.
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: Coel effortlessly keeps a crazy amount of themes in constant play in I May Destroy You, fearlessly tackling some of today’s red-hot topics—race, sexual identity, immigration, self-medication, social media and self-image obsession—all within the long shadow of a sexual assault and trauma mega-arc.
It’s been a few weeks since the masterwork of a finale aired, and having had time to consider the pieces and the whole, I put my finger on a few reasons why it really resonated with me.
* The literally jaw-dropping moments in I May Destroy You are constant and big, but they aren’t for done for cheap shock value. Instead, the twists are a string of brilliant zigs and zags Coel uses to tell an inherently harrowing, human tale with unabashed honesty, humor and hope. She knows where we’re going, but it’s a real ride for the rest of us.
* The whole thing is doubly bold knowing that it’s inspired by Coel’s own experiences. Equally observant and actionably urgent, the show vibrates with a real undercurrent of ‘anything can happen’ energy that’s always sizzling right under the surface. It’s there in the writing, the directing, the production design, the editing—and bravely embodied by Coel, reliving a version of her own story, and her absolutely crackerjack supporting cast of scene stealing MVPs.
* Coel created the rare kind of TV that’s so modern and razor’s edge that it reflects this moment, right now. The show feels so fresh and real-time that it doesn’t stop to self-consciously ponder whether it’s on-trend or trying to start a new one. (Yes, my side-eye is directed at you, Girls.) Instead, it naturally exudes the sensibility that this world, these characters, are all so authentic that any or all of it could feasibly be happening literally while you’re watching. Living art on another level.
ONE-AND-DONE: Like any gem worth it’s sparkle, though, I May Destroy You lives up to its ‘limited series’ label by being a one-and-only season show, wrapping up with this special 12-episode run.
It’s a bummer that we won’t get to hang in London with this crew of complex, cool-as-they-are characters again, but after seeing how things resolve, it’s definitely for the creative best.
And though I’m sad to see it go, there’s always a streaming silver lining. I have a couple seasons of Chewing Gum waiting to catch-up on that just got moved to the top of my list, which will no doubt keep me busy until the next dope Michaela Coel original drops.