Christine Hernandez

I enjoyed the first episode. But there's something off in the writing or Rob's character/acting or a combination thereof. Zoe Kravitz isn't the unsure, indecisive, self-questioning type. And it's difficult watching her play this type of character. There's a lack of chemistry between the actress and the role she's playing. John Cusack plays the neurotic over-analyzing, self-doubting type well. But Zoe Kravitz is sangfroid, so it doesn't translate. It feels forced. Perhaps my criticism stems from my own concepts of gender. John Cusack's character is acceptable to me because his flaws are seen as sensitive and brooding, whereas Kravitz's flaws I take at face value. In romantic comedies, women are primed to be the cool girlfriend/pixie fairy type or to play the strong female. Here, Rob's character isn't dimensional. But Rob's character is also polarizing because the show focuses almost entirely on her. She has friends, but we know almost nothing about them. They might as well be literal stick figures made of popsicle sticks dressed in yarn because that's how much time was spent on their character development. Mostly we have a character dealing with one external issue: her ex has moved on to a new girl named Lily. And most of the conflict is internal: Rob dealing with her own obsessions about everything. But what about any subplots? What about conflicts between friends? What about fleshing out Rob's character via her interactions with others who are supposed to be closest to her?