Why Are You Like This? is a comedy series directed by Adam Murfet and Jessie Oldfield and starring Naomi Higgins, Olivia Junkeer, Wil King and Lawrence Leung, alongside other cast members.
I despise sheltered, blissfully unaware people who think that people either live life according to their idea of right and wrong or, essentially, die. Why Are You Like This? is kinda that but the series is an interesting one to binge through if you get accustomed to the first episode or two.
Following three friends, Mia, Austin and Penny, Why Are You Like This? is a comedy about the lives of these three people who have wide and very interesting personalities. However, the thing that the three have in common is the fact that they don’t care whether their actions have any consequences. If there are people out there who do upset them or do not adhere to their thoughts in any way, there will be hell to pay.
Case in point, when Austin, apparently, breaks up with his boyfriend, he does a lot of things to take revenge including unstitching the seams of his ex’s clothes and cleaning the toilet with his toothbrush. He then mentions poking holes in his condoms in the hopes that he gets AIDS. I mean, that’s horrifying and disturbing and made me question how I am supposed to follow these people for a season.
The second person that we follow in Why Are You Like This? is Penny who constantly tries to push her ideas to her team at work. She forms a special attachment to a guy called Daniel who she assumes is straight and starts asking random questions. The guy is quiet and shy and doesn’t engage with her much. However, she does not like that and at an office party, bullies and harasses him about being gay (something that she is not) and then realises later on that he, in fact, is very gay. Mia is a different shitshow altogether that I won’t get into.
Now, having said that, Why Are You Like This? is just extremely bingable. After the first episode and a few raised eyebrows, I was totally into the series and was thoroughly entertained. Did I fall on the ground laughing? No. But, watching these three very messy young adults is entertaining as all heck and sometimes funny. There are moments that the series is extremely relatable (losing a menstrual cup in the vagina? Holy shit) and that’s what makes this series watchable.
There are a lot of important issues that the series tackles that are very hard to understand whether they are satire or otherwise. As in, the way the characters react to the situations that they face in every episode is unique and how they tackle them and their thoughts can only be debated. However, that also doesn’t matter at the same time. Why Are You Like This? does not take things very seriously and also doesn’t lose itself while tackling these topics. It’s genuinely funny most of the time and that’s what matters at the end of the day.
The three leads, Naomi Higgins, Olivia Junkeer and Wil King, are great and embody their roles brilliantly. They’re a great combination of relatable and annoying and there are moments where you’d want to go out and party with them or slap them – it’s really an either-or. I loved their friendship and chemistry and they seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. It’s a hoot.
Summing up: Why Are You Like This?
Why Are You Like This? is a series that is absolutely infuriating and annoying and extremely relatable and funny. You will probably need the first episode to get acclimated to the characters and their perks but after that, it’s pretty easy sailing. Although not all the jokes land, it’s entertaining enough to keep you occupied and its 6 episodes are really short for the perfect binging experience.
Why Are You Like This? is streaming on Netflix.
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