Platonic Asks, Can Men & Women Just Be Friends?

Apple TV's Platonic Is A Refreshing Subversion Of A Sitcom Trope

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne spearhead a delightful look at the eternal question: can a man and a woman just be good friends, writes Joshua Muyiwa.

APPLE TV’s Platonic is a 10-part comedy starring the Bad Neighbours combo of Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen. While they were married in the latter, in this series they are college best friends. The most interesting element of Platonic is its rejection of the will-they-won’t-they energy of friendships between men and women. While it has kept us coming back for years with some of our favourite sitcoms, it is actually very fun to see two people who are perfect for each other not wanting to get together-together.

Platonic, created by husband-and-wife Nicholas Stoller (Bad Neighbours) and Francesca Delbanco (Friends from College), is offering up a hearty yes to the question: can men and women really be just friends? In 1989 when the witty Nora Ephron asked this question in When Harry Met Sally, she found it wasn’t possible. But perhaps Stoller and Delbanco could have come up with a less literal name to explore this question.

STREAM PLATONIC

'MADDENINGLY ADORABLE'

With Friends Like These...

By Joshua Muyiwa

Byrne plays Sylvia, a lawyer who decided to be a stay-at-home mom to her three children. Rogen is Will, a recently-divorced, craft brewery owner. And when they meet, they are both at the crossroads of purpose in their lives. Sylvia wants to get back to a life of a professional and Will is tired of “selling quality product made with integrity to people on Hinge dates and pretty well-to-do alcoholics”. While it is Sylvia who gets in touch with Will on hearing about his divorce, we find her presenting the argument that “men and women don’t really hang out with each other at our age” to her husband Charlie (played by Luke Macfarlane). Charlie dismisses this argument and instead convinces her to get back in touch with Will.

Immediately, the double-act of Byrne and Rogen is easy like Sunday morning to watch. The spark between them is palpable, precious and plucky. Through the 10 episodes, their friendship grows stronger and deeper while they get higher. In the beginning of course it is doing too much of everything and randomly kicking down every electric scooter on the street (I absolutely hated this recurring detail of the series. Is there a civic-minded person within me too?). Though through all of this unbridled, raucous fun, they still manage to challenge, coax and convince one another to get out of their own way. They push each other into finding their own paths, occasionally recklessly.

But there are flaws in the show; it picks and chooses the moments it takes seriously – and that contributes to an erratic tone. The gems are many but they aren’t always highlighted or given the breathing room to be taken in. Also, Sylvia and Will’s problems seem to be drawn from the features sections of a culture and society magazine from the ‘90s. She is a professional who put her career on hold to take care of her family and 13 years later is wondering what follows. He is a man-child. (Perhaps, a persisting problem.) And the characters, on occasion, do come across as absolutely obnoxious (Will stop kicking the electric scooters!) but these same actions make them endearing to each other. You will not be able to be friends with Sylvia and Will for a minute IRL but in Platonic, you’ve got front-row seats to them hanging out.

Even the other friendships in Platonic outside of the central duo don’t always feel like they are saying things that people would actually say to each other. Sylvia’s only friend is a snappy single mom. Will’s friends are part-owners of the brewery but they are trying to cut him out of the business. No wonder Sylvia and Will turn to one another. And Charlie’s friends at the office are a constant chorus of conspiracy theories regarding Sylvia and Will’s friendship. But Charlie’s character is one of the best-written on the show: he’s able to channel the lighter and more complex moments of the show with a gentle grace. He plays the role of a partner who is doing his best despite being on the outside of something. But he doesn’t seem to let his own insecurities muddy the waters of his marriage. In offering this character, and allowing him to interact in interesting ways with the central duo, Platonic reveals that maybe it is about a married couple who are solid and grounded but still want to escape but just for a little bit.

All of this frill, flaw and funny of Platonic is wrapped up in the magical, believable and charming flicker between Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen. You’ll be annoyed and then they’ll go ahead and do something maddeningly adorable. It feels real. Or at least, it doesn’t feel faked.

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