You Me Her is a romantic drama TV series that is available on Netflix outside of the US & Canada. It is about a childless married couple Jack & Emma living in suburban Portland inviting a third person Izzy into their marriage to form a polyamorous relationship. The description and the initial episodes were certainly sensuous but as the seasons progressed the series transformed itself into one that explored love and relationships.
Jack is a student counsellor and Emma a successful architect living in a posh suburb of Portland, Oregon. After many years of trying, they are unable to conceive a baby. By the turn of events, they both fall in love with a graduate student of psychology Isabelle (Izzy) Silva. The three form a consensual relationship and start living together. Then follows the stigma and opposition from the community and friends. After some time the unconventional relationship causes tension between the trouple. Did it get resolved, do they stay together is narrated across five seasons.
American writers seem to like portraying the lead characters to be having a troubled relationship with their parents or come from broken families. I suppose it makes the characters multi-layered and interesting from a story-telling perspective. Just like most of the neighbourhood shows, Yes Me Her too has the standard ones like a Nosy neighbour, insightful teenagers, a BFF couple, Gay couple and so on.
The four main actors Greg Poehler as Jack Trakarsky, Rachel Blanchard as Emma Trakarsky, Priscilla Faia as Izzy and Melanie Papalia as Nina Martone have given memorable performances. Priscilla and Melanie have been outstanding – the sequences where they stand up for each other as their best friend were well written and acted.
I got bored after the first few episodes but ploughing through the first season and the second, I got hooked as the series started being well written. The first season was spent setting the stage and characters. The second was how the trouple overcome the pressures from the society and announce their relationship. The next three seasons were about Jack, Emmy & Izzy individually getting a cold-feet on their ‘complex’ relationship and running away from the other two. In between we see the love life of the side characters like Nina, the best friend to Izzy; the sudden success of Dave, the best friend of Jack; the troubled relationship Izzy has with her father; the hatred Jack has towards his mom and so on being explored. In many of the TV series, the peripheral characters are never explored in detail, here some of them like Izzy’s father get substantial treatment and I liked it.
Remember, the series is not for the young audience, it obviously features Adult content, a lot of drinking, and smoking substances.
You Me Her (2016-2020)
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