Based on the bestselling novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who also wrote and cast the show, Fleishman Is in Trouble is a unique and thoughtful portrayal of parenthood and relationships in the modern world. The new Hulu series lives up to its promise in the trailer: Indeed, “this is a story about everything.”
With universal themes and a deep understanding of the human psyche that anyone who has been in a relationship can relate to (even if the setting, an upscale Manhattan neighborhood filled with wealthy overachievers, is specific and elite enough to at times be off-putting), the limited series starring Jesse Eisenberg as Toby Fleishman, a recently divorced doctor, is a complex and often amusing window into a world where everyone attempts to have it all.
But the problem is, of course, that no one can have it all. After Toby’s ex-wife, Rachel (Claire Danes), disappears, his life begins to unravel, and viewers have a front-row seat to the demise of their entire marriage via flashbacks of the start of their relationship, which is littered with red flags conveniently ignored by love goggles. “The characters have dozens and dozens of arguments, but it’s really the same argument. Probably like any other fraught relationship, you’re having the same argument in different ways with different words and under different circumstances,” Eisenberg says of his character’s failed marriage. “I loved [Rachel’s] ambition and the way she didn’t feel the need to apologize for herself, and she wasn’t neurotic in the same way I was neurotic; that was really attractive, and that is also their undoing. Her ambition also becomes this kind of monster in the relationship because it feels like she can’t get away from her own ambition.”
Danes was already a huge fan of the book before the offer for the role came in, and felt fortunate and eager to play the role of ambitious, workaholic Rachel, especially the parts surrounding her postpartum depression — something Danes has no experience with but wishes was represented more in pop culture. “I just love exploring this marriage and the other relationships that surround it,” Danes said of the role. “I think it teases at a huge fear that we all share, which is how well do you truly know your most intimate partner? And how well do you know yourself?”
This is a question that is raised frequently, especially when partway through the series, the POV switches from Toby to Rachel, and makes the viewer question what is true and what is marred by interpretation and personal resentments. This complexity is what makes the show so good. Lizzy Caplan, who plays Toby’s college friend Libby and also voices the narration, says it’s what drew her to the project. “Nobody is all the way good, and nobody is all the way evil,” she says. “There are no heroes. There are no villains. It’s a very interesting time to try to tell a story like that, in this day and age where everything is black and white. Everything is your team versus my team. Even in film there’s the caped hero and the dirty villain. Like, this is what we can process as a society right now, and that’s just not how life is. It’s not how people are.”
The show’s ability to dig deep, as well as the stellar cast and writing overall, makes the series a true gem. The entire Fleishman cast and production team seems to have a close rapport and an immense love of the material. Adam Brody, who plays Toby’s lothario friend Seth, gushes, “I think it’s [something] we’ve never seen before on screen.” This is very possibly true.
Fleishman Is in Trouble premieres Thursday, Nov. 17, on Hulu. New episodes are available every Thursday.