It was a Tuesday night. It was unexpected. It was magical. I fell in love.
We’ve all been in a love/hate relationship with Netflix lately, idly waiting each week for something, anything interesting to be added to the dwindling options. Those nights where the only solace was to binge watch Plant Earth for the millionth time has finally come to pass and we can now all relish in the new and returning Netflix originals.
The Characters is such an amazing concept for a show, allowing viewers to really delve into the minds of these select comedians as they navigate the world of TV- sketching their butts off to create a half-hour long vignette of comedy to make you laugh ‘til it hurts… or question your existence. Ok, there was one episode that made me wonder if the entire world was playing a joke on me, because it was so unapologetically offensive. I couldn’t make it through the entire thing and am still in shock. So, if anyone has finished the episode with Henry Zebrowski, please tell me there was a point to being incredibly confused for 20 min. Anyway, back to the light of my life.
It was a random Tuesday night and my friends were basically like, sit down you need to watch this, and that’s when I saw an angel. Natasha Rothwell is an incredible writer, actress, comedian, goddess, who used to work on SNL and 30 Rock. I haven’t had the pleasure of knowing about her for long. I know. For shame. Anyway, can’t wait to stalk her on social media read everything she’s done and watch everything she’s been in. As a woman and person of color, seeing the way Rothwell wrote all of the characters was unbelievably refreshing. Autonomy goes a long way when it comes to writing characters who are charming, relatable, and it shows in this episode.
It starts off with Rothwell finishing up a comedy set, sitting in the dressing room, and receiving a text from an excited friend who wants to celebrate. At first, Rothwell’s character replies as a responsible adult, letting her friend know that she can’t get too wild because she has jury duty the next day. The friend pleads the deathly words you may recognize, “Just one drink.” Rothwell finally agrees and the next scene is Rothwell asleep in her bed cradling a carton of wine that says, “Basic Bitch.” SOLD.
It just gets better and better from there, really.
Another amazing moment was the introduction of a homeless character terrorizing people on the subway by threatening them with spoilers for shows unless they were given money. Lots of people were forking over plenty of dollar bills to be spared hearing the most recent events of the Game of Thrones series.
Finally, the most epic event was the Basic Bitch song, which I have been playing on repeat a disturbing amount of times, especially considering how much time it takes to queue it up, rewind and play. WORTH IT.
What I’m saying is, if you haven’t watched The Characters, namely Natasha Rothwell’s episode, go do it and remind yourself why you’re blowing that whopping $84 a year.
