TV Review: Strangers Explores Confidence Through Adulting Anxieties
Synopsis: In Season One, based in Los Angeles, newly single and bisexual, Isobel rented out her spare room in a last-ditch effort to keep the home in she loves. Along with her lesbian best friend, Cam, she navigated the most complicated time in her life – emotionally, sexually, and professionally. As Isobel began to share her life with a revolving door of colorful characters, their zany antics challenge her perspective and helped open her up to a new way of looking at the world. From navigating her first relationship with another woman, to grappling with career dissatisfaction, Isobel ventured into uncharted territory with hilarity and sincerity. In Season Two, she and Cam have relocated to New York and in a reversal, Isobel is now the renter.
Maybe, my mind is trying to tell me something because I am falling for characters that DO NOT have their “shiz” together. Thus, how ironic is it that Facebook would host Strangers; one of the funniest, freshest series capturing the Millennial struggle to deal with youthful promise and harsh realities. Besides being the King of Russian Bots, Facebook is also the beginning of social media’s takeover in presenting pictures of “better” lives to cover up more distraught ones.
Wittily written and directed by Mia Lidofsky, Strangers Season 2 returns with its lovable, homey vibe to make you feel cozy again in Isobel’s journey. Played by Zoe Chao, Season 2 starts off, pretty much like Season 1. You fall for the colorful blend of confusion and optimism that is Isobel and our Millennial generation. Zoe Chao gives Isobel an innocence even in the face of her pending turmoil that makes you see, “flipping out,” is not productive to moving yourself forward. Yes, last year, Isobel may have met a group of lovers, friends, frenemies, and self-reflections as she rented out her spare room, but growing up does not, necessarily, mean figuring everything out.
What I like about Season 2, so far, is that it pretty much sets up the entire theme of this series will be self-discovery, but, this season, is about Isobel entering others’ lives. As Isobel makes it clear that she is not “homeless”, she’s just without a home, she plans to “bnb” throughout the city, and become, in some ways, what her tenants of last season were to her: a chapter. Think about it! If everyone’s life is a novel, then, in some ways, people are passing characters’ meant to push your plot-lines. Seeing Isobel “take charge” or feel confident in her lack of confidence is fascinating for those that think “confidence” is simply believing in yourself. Sometimes, it can just be realizing that even if you don’t believe in yourself you still have to act for yourself.
I don’t know what it is, but from episode one you get the feeling that Isobel is settling into her instability, and you have to admire it. This being said, she is still awkward and has a plethora of new characters/ opportunities to make sure she stays that way. While I love my Cam (Meredith Hagner, Zoe Chao gives Season 2’s Isobel an inner stability that makes you smile, and shows that Strangers is a show of hope. While it is not a series that makes you hope for the future, it teaches you that hope is born for yourself by how you love others. Thus, by the end of episode 2, you get the feeling Isobel is going to being loving someone very soon.
Moving the show to New York, Strangers feels more dynamic. Note: I am a New Yorker. Moreover, it makes me hopeful that the series will explore, with more seriousness, love for Isoblel. While the potential is blossoming, Zoe Chao makes this character so sincerely likable, you want her to grow up, even more, with love. Click Here For More Information On Strangers.
