First Impression – HBO’s ‘Here and Now’, Season 1, Episode 1

*This First Impression review of HBO’s Here and Now contains mild spoilage*

For those of your who are still on the fence about whether to watch HBO’s new show Here and Now, I’m here to give you my honest opinion about the first episode so you can decide whether you want to bother with taking the plunge.

The pluses are apparent from the get-go. The show is created by Alan Ball, who created the criminally underrated Six Feet Under (on of my favorite shows of all time), and the show that criminally overstayed its welcome, True Blood. The latter got off to a promising start, only to veer off the rails in its last few seasons (some of which he oversaw). So, in general, he’s got an above average-very good track record for giving us compelling television. Add to that you have Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins headlining an otherwise very diverse cast, and you kind of have a recipe for potential greatness

Well…maybe. Let me explain.

If you watched the trailer, Here and Now could seem like a slightly off-kilter family drama, if only because it plays “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” over the trailer which I first heard on Black Mirror and now only makes me think about bad and creepy things happening to good people. But it also stars Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter, so that helps to ease some of the discomfort, if only because we know we’re about to see some fantastic acting. They play Greg Bishop and Audrey Bayer, respectively, and they are the affluent, intellectual parents to a multicultural family in Portland, Oregon that includes three adopted children, and one biological child. There’s Duc (Raymond Lee), the Cambodian adoptee who seems to be the most level-headed of the crew, despite his unexplained decision to be celibate; Ashley (Jerrika Hinton), the Somalian adoptee who has become hard-edged fashion executive in an interracial marriage that may not be as fulfilling as it once was; Kristen (Sosie Bacon) is the youngest and only biological child of Greg and Audrey, who is also the most openly critical and rebellious of those around her; and then there’s Ramon (Daniel Zovatto), the dashing, gay Columbian adoptee possibly in his early 20’s who still hasn’t quite grown up entirely, despite a certain calm and mature ease that he exudes. Out of the four children, he is the biggest focal point of the first episode, since not only is a lot of attention paid to the budding romance that’s come his way, but also because he starts seeing “11:11” in various forms throughout the day that this first episode takes place (the name of the first episode is “Eleven Eleven”).

(As if this weren’t enough, there are some pretty obvious tensions between Greg and Audrey that are violently bubbling under the surface, that they may be keeping in check for the sake of the children. Greg’s depression is manifesting itself in some unsettling ways, while Audrey’s insistence on presenting the picture of familial perfection may be slowly chipping away at his sanity, as well).

If you look at IMDB, the show is described as “A multi-racial family made up of husband, wife, three adopted children from Somalia, Vietnam and Colombia and one biological child, find their bonds tested when one of the children begins seeing things which the rest cannot.” This is putting it lightly. While these visions start out as harmless yet strange coincidences, by the end, it could be argued that the show is possibly taking a supernatural or extraterrestrial slant moving forward. It’s rather jarring when it decides to go here because they do a pretty good job of presenting us with an intriguing set of very real, organic characters and personalities from the start, as well as establishing engaging family dynamics that are very relatable and grounded in reality. One could argue that the show can’t quite decide what it wants to be quite yet, which can make it difficult to defend staying with it for the long haul.

However!

Every single actor does such a fantastic job of giving us characters that I care about – in the first episode, no less! – that I’m willing to give it at least half a season to see where all of this is going. I don’t mind a show being a hot mess as long as you’re giving me characters that I become invested in, and they’re going through things that are honest, human, and thought-provoking. And if there’s anybody who can give us that, it’s Alan Ball.

So, despite its somewhat thematically-muddled beginning, I think there’s definitely enough here to justify giving the show a shot.