Claire Danes is very, very, very good at acting. If you’ve been on social media in the past week, you’ve likely seen some form of that sentence from someone, and that’s likely made you wonder just why people are declaring such a thing at this time – after all, Danes has had a prolific career spanning decades, so why the sudden outpouring of praise? Well, it’s because those folks just finished watching the seventh episode of the compelling FX on Hulu series Fleishman Is In Trouble, which delves deep into Danes’ character, and well, she’s just so incredible in that 45 minutes of television that we all had to tell the world about it post-haste. Similarly, I’m writing this piece to convince you to watch the series – and, of course, to tell you how damn good Danes is in that single episode – because it’s definitely worth an end of the year binge on your part.
So, what exactly is Fleishman Is In Trouble? Well, it’s a pretty faithful adaptation of Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s best-selling novel of the same name (Brodesser-Akner also adapted the novel for the series, serving as the showrunner), which tells us the tale of Dr. Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg, who was pretty much born to play the character), an Upper East Side Jewish doctor whose ex-wife Rachel (the aforementioned Danes) drops the couples two children off with him one day and seemingly disappears, throwing Toby’s life into chaos. We’re told this tale by Libby (Lizzy Caplain, doing a great job with her narration), one of Toby’s good friends from college, who is determined to protect and help her friend in the face of Rachel’s seemingly callous actions. Naturally, things aren’t quite as Libby – and therefore, us – believe them to be, and the truth slowly unspools over the course of the eight-episode limited series.
For fans of the book – of which I am one – seeing this story play out in a strong adaptation is a nice gift to have as 2022 draws to a close. And for those who missed out on the book when it first came out (I do recommend people pick it up and give it a read – especially if you like the series), it’s a chance to see that interesting and complicated story reach a wider audience. Now, you might wonder why I’m not diving into the basics of the plot here or teasing particular performances (beyond Danes’ that is). Well, that’s because I don’t want to spoil the slow burn that makes the story so compelling. There’s a reason our narrator is Libby and not just a generic third person omniscient voice. There’s a reason we don’t get a showcase episode for Danes’ Rachel until the penultimate episode (even knowing the story, I was left wondering just why Danes had signed onto the show as weeks went by with her barely appearing in the series – but then her episode came around and well, that question was well and duly answered). And there’s a reason we never fully see Toby’s actions and life through his own eyes – remember, our narrator is his friend, not him.
It’s not an easy thing to adapt a popular novel into a successful series. And sure, there are moments where the series doesn’t quite hit a plot point or a character with enough oomph to get the point across the way it needs to (or, conversely, where it hits things a bit too hard on the head). I also suspect the New York-ness of the series might be a bit of a turn off for some – so be warned that this is a very New York story about a very particular subset of that population. But man, it’s a heck of an interesting look at how we are conditioned to treat parents, divorce, and the roles men and women play in the world – all while never really feeling preachy or forcing a particular opinion of viewpoint on us throughout the story’s twists and turns.
If you’re looking for an interesting limited series to take on as the year comes to a close, I highly recommend giving Fleishman Is In Trouble a look. The finale airs this week. It’s well worth your time.
Fleishman Is In Trouble is streaming on Hulu. All episodes are available.
