Just finished watching Normal People and Iโm left with this quiet acheโlike the kind you feel when you remember something beautiful and broken at the same time. The characters, Marianne and Connell, were portrayed so intimately that it didnโt feel like I was watching a showโit felt like I was watching two real people navigate the raw, unfiltered mess of love, trauma, and identity.
What struck me the most was the emotional detailingโMarianneโs insecurity about her body, the way she shrinks in her own home, how deeply internalized her pain is. You can sense that thereโs a deeper story with her father that the series only hints atโbut even that little glimpse is enough to understand the kind of violence sheโs been shaped by. The way she tells Connell not to become like her dad, and yet later ends up asking Jamie and Lukas to hurt herโฆ that destroyed me. Itโs heartbreaking to witness how trauma teaches womenโespecially women like Marianneโthat pain is a form of attention, and attention a form of love.
Her relationship with her family is disturbing. Her brother is emotionally violent. Her mother is cold and dismissive. Itโs not just neglectโitโs like sheโs punished for existing. And the show never offers closure there, which in a strange way, makes it more real. Some of us never get apologies or answersโwe just learn to breathe around the silence.
Then there's Connellโquiet, kind, and deeply repressed. Heโs not toxic or cruel, but heโs also not emotionally equipped to handle the weight of love. His depression was portrayed so wellโsubtle, hollow, and very real. That therapy scene hit me hard, especially when he says he feels like heโs not a real person. Itโs rare to see male vulnerability shown with that much softness.
Their relationship is built on loveโbut also fear, missed chances, and unspoken words. They see each other more clearly than anyone else ever does, but their inner wounds keep pulling them apart. Still, the tenderness between them is something sacred. Itโs not always romantic, but itโs profoundly human.
And LorraineโConnellโs momโis one of the most grounded, emotionally intelligent characters Iโve ever seen. The way she supports both her son and Marianne with quiet dignity is beautiful.
Normal People is slow. Itโs not for those seeking action or dramatic plot twists. But if youโre in an emotional state, if youโve loved someone you couldnโt hold onto, or if youโve lived through silence, shame, or self-abandonmentโthis series will reach into you.
Itโs not a happy ending, but itโs a healing one. Sometimes, thatโs all we need.