PLOT: When Steve begins dating his best friend’s much younger daughter, a whirlwind of emotions rips through the family and threatens to leave nothing but ruin in its wake.
REVIEW: Some people are okay with being alone. They don’t need another person to function, and remaining single provides them with an innate sense of freedom that suits their solitary lifestyle. Still, others crave companionship, that feeling of always having someone close, a mirror to reflect your thoughts and feelings. Steve (Jemaine Clement) is 50, and he’s not getting any younger. He’s a successful stylist who pals around with his best friend Alice (Nicola Walker). They used to date, but that’s all in the past. One evening, while Steve is crashing at Alice’s after a funeral for their mutual friend, he reconnects with Izzy (Yali Topol Margalith), Alice’s 26-year-old daughter. Izzy’s just been through a harsh breakup, and Steve has kind eyes, a funny disposition, and they’re both a little drunk. One thing leads to another, and before you know it, it’s business time for Steve and Izzy. Let the games begin!
Instead of hiding their dalliance and budding relationship, Izzy tells her mother flat-out that she and Steve slept together. What’s more, they genuinely like one another and want to keep seeing each other. Needless to say, Alice, who holds a bit of a candle for Steve, does not take the news well. The admission rocks Alice to her core, resulting in some of her most unhinged and vindictive behavior ever. To make matters worse, Daniel (Joel Fry), Alice’s husband, is finally finding his voice in an uneven marriage, calling her out for her cruelty, selfishness, and damaging responses to any new developments in Steve and Izzy’s courtship.
Alice and Steve is a darkly funny drama about messy people with little impulse control, resulting in snap decisions that could affect their professional identities, social standing, and sanity. What I like most about the six-episode series is that it’s a fast-moving look at how complicated we are as imperfect human beings, and how, when it comes to matters of the heart, the best of intentions aren’t always enough to save you from disaster.
Nicole Walker delivers a brilliant performance as Alice, whose sweet, sincere energy clashes with her character’s faults like a tidal wave of juxtaposition. On one end of the spectrum, Alice recently found out that her daughter is dating her best friend (and ex-lover). Society already has its hang-ups with straight-facing age-gap relationships (mostly because, no matter what, the man holds power over the woman). Still, Steve and Izzy’s union is throwing Alice for a loop. She’s become unmoored, reckless, and bloodthirsty. She’ll do everything in her power to break Steve and Izzy up, even if that means sacrificing her own relationship with Daniel to get her way. As I said, Walker is outstanding. She plays Alice with such fire that I found it impossible to look away from her scenes, anxious to see how she’d react to the next revelation of awkward news.
Jemaine Clement is also captivating as Steve, a lonely, affluent stylist who sees something special about Izzy. How could he not? She’s vibrant, in control, ambitious, and impulsive. Basically, she’s everything he’s not. Steve and Izzy are a comfort to one another, and for what it’s worth, they’re genuinely interested in seeing where their relationship goes. The show’s creator and writer, Sophie Goodhart, does an excellent job of not making Steve out to be a creep. He’s not preying on Izzy; he’s broken and desperately wants to make a connection with someone who can bring light to his dim life. In any other show, audiences could view Steve as a lecherous pedo (Alice’s words). Still, Goodhart keeps his character in check, never once venturing into insidious intentions or one-sided power dynamics. It’s an interesting position to take as a female writer.
To make matters even more interesting, Izzy is a young woman who values her autonomy, and she won’t sacrifice her integrity for anyone: not Alice, not Steve, or her ex-boyfriend, Youseff, who’s the type of guy that only realizes Izzy’s value after she’s gone. Love is complicated. Izzy knows that, and she wants to explore, follow her heart. She understands that her relationship with Steve might be difficult for some, but at the end of the day, it’s not their business. Margalith plays Izzy as a young woman lost in love, unable to approach any aspect of the heart with caution. She does what she feels, caring not to ponder the consequences. Together, Walker, Clement, and Maragalith form a hypnotic trifecta that draws you in and keeps you anxious.
Meanwhile, Joel Fry’s Daniel might be my favorite character in the series. Fry plays Daniel like the human equivalent of a box breathing exercise. Four in. Hold. Four out. Repeat. He’s the reserved, calming presence in a typhoon of chaos. As Alice becomes more untethered, Daniel begins to see the flaws in their relationship and, thanks to a new lady friend, confronts much of what he’s repressed about his wants and needs. You want to root for everyone in the show, but we must protect Daniel at all costs. I want to take him for coffee, then drop him off at therapy and hope for the best.
Finally, I want to shout out Tyrese Eaton-Dyce, who plays Alice’s son Dom, and Eilidh Fisher, who plays Rome, Dom’s friend, whom he hopes will become more than that. Eaton-Dyce and Fisher share an enjoyable chemistry. Together, they offer a fly-on-the-wall view of the madness between Alice, Steve, Izzy, and Daniel. I like watching Dom and Rome stare into the void of adult relationships with a dazed, concerned fascination. The last thing anyone wants is to end up like their parents, and Dome and Rome get a harsh lesson in what not to do when fragile hearts are at the center of a bullseye.
My hat is off to Goodhart for shooting one of the most awkward dinner parties I’ve ever seen. My skeleton nearly leaped from my skin and ran in the opposite direction of my screen as a shared meal devolved into a merciless character assassination, with Alice’s justified rage and pain taking the form of an emotional wreck hellbent on destruction. Walker, Clement, and Margalith sell the complexity of Steve and Izzy’s union, and how their seemingly impulsive actions create a ripple effect that’s tearing a family apart. Goodhart comes at the material honestly, though another discussion or two about how someone could easily consider Steve’s actions as predatory would have gone a long way. That conversation is worth having.
Hulu‘s Alice and Steve series is short, sweet, occasionally uncomfortable as all get out, and an engaging look at how complex relationships can push well-intentioned people over the edge. Through a thin veil of grim comedy, the series screams into the darkness, holding a megaphone, as the void swallows the cries of outrage. People are not perfect. Relationships are messy. I want the best for Alice, Steve, and Izzy, but it’s going to take a miracle and a lot of wine even to get the ball rolling.
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