The Prestige TV Podcast - 'Normal People' | TV Concierge

Episode Date: April 28, 2020

'Normal People,' the adaptation of Sally Rooney's best-selling novel, is very horny, and also a captivating portrayal of young love. Hosts: Chris Ryan and Juliet Litman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Start selling on Deepop, where Taste recognizes taste. Welcome to TV concierge, a daily podcast where ringer staffers help you navigate the crowded TV landscape. I am Juliet Litman. I am joined today by my television compatriot, a kind of Irishman, the one and the only, Chris Ryan, co-host of The Watch. And we are talking about normal people, the new show on Hulu. Chris, give me the quick pitch on why people should be watching normal people. Young love and a lot of sex in Ireland. A lot of sex. Also in Ireland. I think sex is going to be one of the main talking points from this show, and we'll get to it. But why did you like it? I know that you were a big fan. Yeah, so normal people, just to give people a little bit of background, is an adaptation of a best-selling novel by Sally Rooney that came out a couple of years ago and was quite a sensation in literary circles.

And actually crossed over, I think, became like kind of a mainstream sensation. You may have seen some of your favorite Instagram follows holding it not too conspicuously in Instagram photos over the last couple of. months. Hard pass on that. No thanks. Love her books. Also love conversation with friends, but hard pass on the Instagram. Okay, carry on. So this is one of those things that you sometimes find that Hollywood will get in front of an adaptation and really start to push it out fast. Like going back to the firm and Bridges of Madison County back in the 90s,

these days, those things usually find their way to streaming services. So Hulu and BBC picked up normal people as a co-production. It's airing on the BBC in England. And it is directed by Lenny Abramson, who some people may know from his film Room, and Hennie McDonald's who did the more recent adaptation of Howard's End, the Juliet and I both really, really liked. If you haven't seen it, you fucked up.

It's just all, it's all I'm going to say. Check it out. You're, how old people. Yeah, if you need another hit. So normal people, this story is pretty simple. Two teenagers meet in Irish high school. They come from sort of opposite sides of the social strata and economic strata. Marion is a rich girl who doesn't have a lot of friends.

Connell is a working class guy, star athlete, very popular. They conduct a secret romance that goes on through the first part of their young adult lives and we follow them along in all the ups and downs that they encounter. It is one of the most true-to-life depictions of young love that I can remember on any size screen. It's really been arresting to watch this. Julia, what do you think of it so far? I couldn't stop watching. The two stars, so Marianne is played by Daisy Edgar Jones,

and Connell is played by Paul Meskell, and they are both just incredibly hot. She looks like Anne Hathaway, but Irish, and he is like, I think, like a Paul Newman type. He doesn't have the same exact, like, objectively handsome face as Paul Newman, but he is so good in this show and also an incredible, incredible actor that I think that

they'll both become famous, but I think he will be like the real star. I think he's like honestly on the level of Paul Newman, Brad Pitt, Robert Redford. And part of it is because there's so much sex in the show and like very erotic sex

that I think he'll just immediately become a sex symbol. Don't you think? Oh, I mean, I think you nailed it right there where it's like, and not to put too fond of point on it, but it has like real Brad Pitt

and Thelman Louise vibes. Yes. And you're just like, oh, this is the birth of a new movie star. Yeah, it's really cool because TV is uniquely suited to do that. Often, these days, we get a lot of movie stars doing TV, Math McConnehy and Reese Witherspoon and everybody's kind of coming back down to the smaller screen. But TV has always been uniquely suited to minting new stars.

I mean, you go back to George Clooney, but even before that, I mean, obviously, it's just, we've gotten some of our biggest stars from their first appearances on television. Yeah. And the thing about Sally Rune's books are that they, really capture the sort of overwhelming feelings of being young that like not even like the happy ones, but just like the ones that are really vexing and taxing and like the ups and the downs of being anywhere from the age of, you know, 16 to 32 essentially. And that is captured in the show so well. It's pretty rare to have a romance that really thrives in like the ambiguity and like the down or neutral

moments of a relationship. There's very few, like, purely happy moments in this show, but I don't really miss them. Like, you're not, like, I don't find myself, like, longing for the happy ending. There's, like, a magnetic pull between these two characters that they capture really well on screen. Like, you just can't look away. I also think, like, aesthetically, it really looks like, never let you go, the movie with Andrew Garfield.

And what's her name? I've, I've blocked her out. Kieranightly? Yeah. Kieranightly. She's just been erased from my memory. It kind of, like, looks like that. So it just has so many touchstones that you're,

and it just works. And it's very beautiful. And I just know it's like, it's going to sweep the nation. So everyone, it's going to sweep all the nations where it's playing, you know? Yeah, the six nations of the United Kingdom. Yeah.

I have a question for you. Do you feel like there's even a comp on television to this show? No, I think that this is not in any way a comp in terms of tone or even sensibility. but the closest thing I can really pair it with is flea bag just because it crams so much life into a 30-minute runtime per episode. And that's one thing that I would say is a selling point for it. A lot of what you see on screen in normal people is just everyday behavior. It's people having a party, going to get a drink, sleeping, picking up their parents from work, a lot of everyday stuff. Because it's just 30 minutes, none of those actions seem wasted. And you always know that that's part of

building towards something more emotionally significant. You get to know these characters through their behaviors in such an intoxicating way. And it makes even just driving around and getting Chinese takeout seem like the most romantic thing possible. It's also transporting. I mean, I'm sure for people who live in Dublin, they're like, yeah, who cares? This is just a shot of a street in Dublin. But for everybody else, it's pretty intoxicating to watch like all the scenery, especially

now in a time when a lot of people are really allowed to travel anywhere and you're stuck at home. it's really awesome to just kind of see this part of Ireland in Sligo where the first few episodes are set and then in Dublin where a lot of the rest of the season is that. So people have already started talking about the show. Like we said, they've been talking about the sexiness of it. What do you think are going to be the other like big talking points coming out of it? Like why do you think it'll become a thing? Because we're talking about it because we're pretty sure it's going to be a thing. Well, one of the things that's really cool about this show is that when you would expect it to take the point of view and be, by proxy the side of one character, it zags and does the other. So I'm not going to give away any plot points, but as in any relationship, there are obviously these complications. And when you would think, okay, this person has been hurt, we should be spending time with them so we can see how

they're feeling about it. You actually go and spend time with the person who's like inflicted that pain. And I just creates this incredible sense of empathy for both characters that there's really not a lot of blame. There's not a lot of Team Connell or Team Marion. It's a lot more like, oh, I can totally understand why these two people are infatuated with one another and I can totally understand why it hurts this person or why this person hurt. It's just like a different kind of storytelling. Totally. And again, this is like a show without a comp. And so I feel weird putting it in the same conversation. But I feel when Parasite came out, people were really wanting to talk about it and like it really moved them and meant a lot to them and had like really, obviously the commentary on

class is really searing. And they're really, there's just so much of a parasite that is really powerful. I think that normal people is going to be similarly. It's going to be a whole, you have to see it, and then we'll discuss. Like, I don't want to say anything before you see it. It's like almost like an experience that people will want to have. And it's just, it's really unique. I'm also, like, I feel weirdly happy for Hulu.

I'm a Hulu power user. Always happens where I watch Grace Anatomy. It's where I watch things like this way up, which I think we also like. I'm so happy for those kids that they pulled it out in the end. Yeah, the scrappy younger dogs. The 15 seed. I'm so happy. that Disney streaming service,

Hulu, somehow made this happen. But I don't know. It just feels like a real win for everybody involved. Yeah. And also I think it's, you know,

they're releasing all 12 episodes on April 29th. This will be watched in the same way a lot of people watch Fleabag where they just like free base them in three, four hours chunks.

I want a caution against that. I want a caution against it. Don't do it. But I think people will do it. Yeah, no, you'll just get sucked in. You'll want more and more. But this is a really good show.

to like, I feel like Marianne, if you're being true to the Marianne character, you wouldn't watch it all in one sitting because she would want it to be like meted out over time. And not even as an active restraint. Connell's definitely the more constrained one. But like for her,

it'd be like an active discipline and will to be like, no, I'm not watching all this right now. She's a fascinating character. I'm curious to see where this actress, Daisy Edgar Jones, goes from here because this is a pretty defining role. I hope that she doesn't like get stuck in it. I mean, she always can have some work as Anne Hathaway's stunt double.

She looks so much like her, right? Yeah. It's uncanny. Yeah. It's shocking. And I actually have not really seen that written yet. I'm looking forward to the comps, though. You mentioned Parasite.

I just wanted to also say another recommended, if you like, is this is very, for me, it's very resonant, reminds me a lot of the Richard Linklater's before trilogy. Oh, interesting. In terms of your attachment to the couple and the feeling like you are getting this really in-depth, nuanced picture of a relationship. Oh, fascinating. I hadn't really put that together, but it is true. Also, like, basically same amount of time across the three movies and the 12 episodes.

My only critique of the show is it didn't need to be 12 episodes. I read the book. It's shorter than conversation to the friends. You could read the book easily in a day. I think it could have been good at 9 or 10. I'm not complaining because I love being in this world and spending time with these actors, but it's a little bit of fat. Yeah.

I mean, as there is in almost every season of every television show, this point. But if it's going to be this good, I don't mind it. They all run long. So normal people on Hulu, this is the strongest recommendation we could possibly give. It's our wholehearted endorsement. And Paul Meskell, we can't wait to see more of you, clothed or unclothed. Literally love to see it. Literally. Thanks for listening to TV Concierge. Check us out tomorrow.