As shockingly horrible as this year has been, it’s made me realize how much I value good television shows. Lately, my current guilty pleasure has been watching people in their early-twenties actually living in the real world.
Perhaps it’s because life in the real world has become a distant memory, but watching your agemates on tv is incredibly liberating. I love watching people trying to navigate the complexities of life as they start their careers.
Especially since these stories are often glossed over in favour of teen dramas or sitcoms with people fearfully hitting thirty. These stories feel like a rare insight into the friends I wish I had. Often times it feels like a warming substitute for the social life I’ve put on hold due to the pandemic.
If you’re like me and have more free time lately, here are the best shows about navigating life in your early twenties.
Good Trouble
At its core, this brilliantly diverse show follows two adopted sisters and their roommates living communally in downtown Los Angeles. However, as the John Lewis inspired title predicts, political activism drives many of the storylines on Good Trouble.
For example, one sister fights for representation and equal pay as a Latina in the tech world. At the same time, the other tries to use what privilege she does have as a white woman to shake up the broken legal system where she now works.
What makes this show great is the supporting cast. While many of the supporting characters are from marginalised communities, they never feel tokenized. Each character is beautifully developed and feels honest.
For a long time, tuning in weekly to watch this show was the only thing that made me feel sane. Any worries I had about money, friendships, my love life or my career were all validated by watching.
Network: Freeform
Normal People
Based off a novel with the same name, Normal People follows an Irish couple in university. Except they’re trying to steer the hidden situationship, they started in High School.
As with all situationships, communication is minimal and the will they/won’t they is as frustrating as it is alluring.
One of my favourite things about shows based on people in their early twenties is that they’re all sort of selfish and lost. I’m not sure if I’ve ever met someone in their early twenties with their shit together. Art should reflect that, this show does.
You will drool over the cinematography and weep over the raw chemistry held by the two leads…but I think you should read the book first.
Network: BBC/Hulu
Alone Together
If you’re looking to laugh, this is the perfect show. Alone Together follows two platonic male-female best friends from differing walks of life as they survive living in Los Angeles.
Both characters almost feel too anxious and neurotic to join the real world, so they avoid growing up. Instead, they exist on the outskirts of LA’s vain social culture. Both hoping that one of their ridiculous pipe dreams will lead them to fame and fortune.
Watching this duo interact makes me laugh my hardest and I wish they were given more seasons.
Network: Freeform
Shrill
This wonderful show is for anyone who’s ever wanted to change their life. Shrill follows plus-size journalist Annie as she starts to learn her worth.
Annie works at a ridiculous digital publication obsessed with dehumanizing their employees. She’s also dating a man that no one with self-respect would – but she’s growing!
Much like the world we live in, Annie faces constant fatphobia, from her parents, lovers and the boss from hell. As for many fat people, her peers either doubt her abilities or are actively embarrassed by her because of her size.
I love this show so much because Annie is not a “before.” She loves her body and has no plans on changing it, which is something common in reality, but rare on-screen. There are episodes that deal with chub rub pain, online trolls and hookup culture as a fat woman. It’s body positivity at it’s finest.
Although, regardless of how much you weigh, I think this show is important to watch. It’s a great reminder to love the skin you’re in, to always respect fat people, and to demand what you’re worth.
Network: Hulu/Crave
I May Destroy You
This show is often painful to watch, but it is necessary if you’re an adult who has sex. Michaela Coel’s second show follows an influencer-turned-author named Arabella as she tries to recall the details of her rape.
While Arabella avoids the deadline to finish a draft, she teaches us that recovery is never linear. And most horrifyingly, that most people don’t understand what consent truly means.
There are countless think pieces about I May Destroy You and for a good reason! In many moments, watching the show feels voyeuristic. Making the viewer feel helpless like the air is too thick to breathe, but we can’t leave the room.
Yet every episode left me feeling introspective and wanting to start important conversations with everyone around me. I finally started questioning the consent I’ve given other people and what my boundaries are.
Hookup culture might be at a halt right now, but it’s important to question. Are the things we accept from others what we actually want, or are they the status quo?
As unsettling as the show might be, there are great moments of laughter. Especially since Coel highlights Black British culture in an authentic way that is rarely done.
The show will definitely destroy you, but it also serves as a reminder that even when you’ve found minor success, self-care should come first. Being productive and career-driven isn’t realistic when our mental health is suffering and we shouldn’t punish ourselves for that. Sometimes people just need to exist, heal and grow and that’s okay.
Network: BBC/HBO
Think I missed a show? What would you add to the list?
