Zack Michelson

Friends From College is a heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and even sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious. Brilliantly directed by the man who brought us the equally endearing Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Five-Year Engagement, this Netflix original series is one of the most genuine expressions of human tragedy in current television programming. Friends From College is bolstered by its strong lead and supporting cast, with especially strong work from its lead Keegan-Michael Key who has never been so touching, and the perfectly-cast Fred Savage in a magnificent return to regular comedy. The women in the show are all amazing, particularly Cobie Smulders and Jae Sue Park, who bring their own respective strengths to every scene their in. A lot of viewers seem to be bashing the show for its supposedly "hate-able" characters and lack of "heart". But I commend Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller for taking a chance in showcasing the dramatic nature of real life, and for depicting things the way they sometimes are: not rosy and loveable, but awkward and uncomfortable and perpetually in a state of uncertainty. There is nothing wrong with showing what life might have in store for people who don't seem to grow up, because rather than seeing this show as a romanticization or glorification of the things we can do wrong, I understand Friends From College as a representation of how not to approach the things most dear to us. It's a heartfelt love letter to the ugliness that can happen in life, but this show is also a beautiful warning of what can happen if we don't play our cards right. I've just watched the first two seasons on Netflix over the last 3 days, and I truly hope to see more of this series. I want to know what will happen to these unlikely friends, which is more than I can say about other television shows I've tried to watch in the recent past.