TV REVIEW: SUBURGATORY

City girl meets ridiculously fake American suburbs is a concept we’ve all watched before in countless American sitcoms. So it seems near impossible for anything remotely original to come out of another programme about well-off rich kids and their fake, over-protective parents. Yet, Suburgatory, a kind of Mean Girls meets Desperate Housewives, succeeds in presenting this overdone setting and recognisable situation in a new, quirky light.

For those unfamiliar with this suburban comedy, the story begins in Manhattan where ‘cool city Dad’ George Altman ‘accidentally’ discovers condoms in his daughter Tessa (Jane Levy)’s room and therefore decides that the city isn’t the right place to raise her and moves to Chatswin, Tessa’s idea of suburban hell (hence the title.)  As expected, Chatswin is far removed from Tessa’s hip urban life and she doesn’t fit in.

Jeremy Sisto as George and Jane Levy as Tessa.

The show takes on the fish out of water syndrome, a sort of reverse Alice in Wonderland plot where Tessa, the Alice figure enters a suburban Wonderland that is less than exciting. There are moments reminiscent of 90s American teen movies, like queen bee Dalia “committing social suicide” by doing a magic act with Evan, the school nerd (as Tessa puts it, “if you look up ‘rock bottom’ in the dictionary, there’s a picture of Evan with a top hat.”)

Suburgatory stands out due to its witty writing and equally splendid performances. Notable among the latter is rising star, Jane Levy (who has a slight Emma Stone vibe) as sarcastic and observant teen Tessa Altman and Cheryl Hines as Dallas Royce, Dalia’s vain and status obsessed mother. Not only is this show doing many things right, it also has a slight Juno-esque element to it, plus every line spoken by Carly Chaiken’s Dalia is absolutely hilarious. The show’s portrayal of Tessa and George’s modern father/daughter relationship is spot on despite Sisto often taking on the role of Tessa’s older brother, rather than dad.

Suburgatory’s most striking element is its subtle hint of satire, a black comedy that exposes how strange the banal situations of suburban life can be when viewed by an outsider. Ironically, the show mocks the suburbs while simultaneously envying those who live there. Like many sitcoms, it’s not perfect but it works extremely well as a good natured comedy that explores the diversity between people raised in different places but also conveys the certain universal truths that connect us.