Friends From College (Season 1)
The characters in Friends From College are undoubtedly over-privileged and somewhat ridiculous, but the strength of this show – created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller – lies in our willingness to spend time with them as they gradually come to realize just how over-privileged and somewhat ridiculous they are. The premise is simple: six friends from Harvard are reunited in New York when two of their number move back into town from Chicago. As a result of this, their relationships and romantic entanglements with each other are magnified – bringing old secrets to the surface and current tensions to a head.
The six friends are Ethan (Keegan-Michael Key), Lisa (Cobie Smulders), Max (Fred Savage), Nick (Nat Faxon), Sam (Annie Parisse) and Marianne (Jae Suh Park). Ethan and Lisa are married, but Ethan is having an affair with Sam, who is married to John (Greg Germann). Lisa used to date Nick, who is getting engaged to someone else. Max is an editor at a publishing house, who is in a relationship with surgeon Felix (Billy Eichner) – but he’s trying to relive his Harvard days as a co-writer with author Ethan. While the group is, on the face of it, tight-knit, each of those threads comes under strain by their sudden close proximity, and the fact that they’re all staring down the barrel of their fortieth birthdays.
Each of the cast does sterling work here, and we’re drawn into their individual predicaments in spite of their over-privileged nature. It’s absolutely the case that Fred Savage steals the show, though, in spite of stiff competition. He effortlessly strolls away with each of his scenes, while clearly having an immense amount of fun. For this reason, episodes 3 (All-Nighter) and 4 (Mission Impossible) are season stand-outs, while episode 5 (Party Bus) features a deeply moving subplot in which Max quietly navigates a relationship implosion on a group excursion filled with the same.
