Now streaming on Netflix is The Duchess which features Katherine Ryan. If you’re familiar with her previous works as a stand-up comedian, you’ll probably like this one too! Katherine Ryan’s personality is a mixture of brash, bold and a little crass at times.
The Dutchess is filled with awkward sex jokes which can be easily called crude and inappropriate. This semi-autobiographical show has a lot of moments where you’ll meet the sharp-tongued woman that Katherine Ryan is, who obviously has no tolerance for any nonsense that comes her way. There is chaos and too much of it. To begin with, five minutes into the series you’d meet the immature Katherine because she is hankering for a second child with her ex who has tormented her enough already!
A little about Katherine’s autobiographical show, she plays a single mother to a daughter who’s definitely a lot more matured than her madcap mother.
The story of this show has been loosely based out of Katherine Ryan’s real life and there are certain portions of her well-defined character that you could definitely relate to! Katherine’s definitely not the ideal mum material, starting from the undeniable differences that she has with mothers that go to drop their children off to school to unapologetically wearing a bright pink sweatshirt that reads “World’s smallest pu**y”.
Katherine and her nine-year-old precocious daughter (Olive) has quite a unique relationship and there are ample moments where you’ll find Olive mothering her mother.
There’s really nothing more to The Duchess apart from Katherine!
The Duchess isn’t exactly that interesting single mum show that you’d enjoy throughout. Honestly, in an ideal world, the series should have just had four episodes. There’s very less to the show than Katherine’s cutting remarks, sexually suggestive inappropriate comments and behaviour. The Duchess definitely lacks substance and also, overall, the plot is loosely hanging onto just witty remarks which honestly will feel like an overbearing attempt on Katherine’s part to sound funny.
There are stereotypical elements which try too hard to differently treat this piece of work. For instance, when Katherine’s boyfriend (whom she sees on weekends) brings peonies for her, she isn’t exactly happy – she is threatened by her boyfriend’s attempt to come closer to her.
She is exactly a woman scorned in love who wants to move on but still finds weird and annoying ways to keep her ex (Shep) in her life. Her excuse to have a child with Shep is that if one child of her has had a bad father, the second child should not have the privilege of having a better man as the father…. so bizarre!
The only relief from all that crude and crass sexually suggestive remarks has to be Katherine’s relationship with Olive. Olive feels alone and she wants a sibling to play with. Katherine is open to giving that a shot but soon that becomes an overwhelming part in Katherine’s life. She, for the love of God, cannot leave her ex alone. Her dithering nature in The Duchess will tire you out by the end of the series.
The Duchess soon exposes itself as a flimsy, not organic attempt to keep staying funny and relevant starting from Katherine’s job which involves her making pottery that resembles naked female bodies to screaming out loud asking Shep to ejaculate on her hands… ughh!
There’s not much to talk about The Duchess. The cinematography is pretty plain Jane. The performances are good enough to let you get to the end of the show and the plot is just okay, nothing more and nothing less than that.
My recommendation to readers – if you are new to Katherine Ryan then try giving her stand up acts a try first. If you already enjoy her content then The Duchess might be a show you’d enjoy!
Overall verdict!
Katherine Ryan’s comic timing is confused and vacillating just like her but still has some bawdy moments that are enjoyable. If you’re expecting a Gilmore Girls vibe from this series, you are heading for sore disappointment because that is not what it is.
What could look like a very commendable positive about the show is that this theme of single parenthood has been explored before and most of the times, it has been tragic and sad, this one… not so much! You can stream or skip The Duchess because it doesn’t bring a lot to the table, however, it has the potential to be a light watch for you.
The Dutchess is streaming on Netflix.