Now this was a good rec. A number of people e-mailed me about it and then I checked RottenTomatoes and the critics score was 95 and the audience score was 98 so we decided to check it out. Glad we did, there's not another show quite like it.
"Mr. Inbetween" is Australian. So there's a slightly different sensibility. Australians take themselves a bit less seriously, and they've got a sense of humor, and they drink. But still, it's relatable.
So the bottom line is Ray is a hitman with a regular life. A thug who's little different from your next door neighbor other than his line of work, and a severe anger problem. You see Ray comes from the school where you've got to stand up for yourself, where you don't tolerate bullies, you hit back, in some cases you even hit first, damn the consequences. And occasionally this gets him in trouble, because normal people default to the law, the rules of society, and Ray doesn't always do this, he's got his own sense of justice. Which is moral in its own way.
So, when he's not the doorman at a strip joint, when he's not off beating people up, Ray shares custody of his daughter, he gets into a relationship, he hangs with his friends, and these situations are depicted more accurately than in a year's worth of American TV.
Ray's daughter starts off young and loving, never mind uber-cute, but as the seasons wear on, she gets older and doesn't want to be seen with him and has a boyfriend and starts getting into trouble and Ray has to manage all this. One of the funniest and most squeamish situations is when Ray has to tell Britt the facts of life long before she reaches puberty, when she catches Ray in bed with Ally and he's...
As for Ally... If only relationships could be depicted this well in all series. You can love each other but the relationship still can't work. And you don't get over each other right away. And the speech Ally gives at her house, about trying to fix people and standing up for herself...it's so hard to face reality and do what is good for you when it feels so bad.
So Ray's got a father he won't speak to. And a brother with a bad illness. Families, siblings, they're complicated. And if you've been through the war with your brother or sister, you're bonded forever, you always look out for each other.
And Ray is a good friend. Especially to Gary, his best friend.
Gary is an average guy who is constantly making bad choices, like marrying that Russian woman, but Ray shows up for him time and again, takes the heat, defuses the situation. And Gary does the same for Ray. They're buddies. But it's not a buddy comedy, they're just friends. Remember when you had friends like this? Get older and they disappear.
And Gary is always looking for a way to make a buck.
And Ray takes Britt to playdates and...tries to help the parents of her friends. Life comes with so many obligations. Assuming you're up to them, and Ray is.
This is a hard show to explain. First and foremost, the episodes are very short. Just over twenty minutes if you watch on Hulu without commercials. Half an hour on FX. And the seasons aren't super-long, the first only has six episodes, the second eleven and the third nine. In other words, it's not a deep commitment, you can watch an episode before bed, you don't need to commit an hour of time. Then again, in an hour you can blast through three episodes!
And these episodes breathe. They're not chock full of action, nor are the images dense, the writing is spare but so right on. You can tell Scott Ryan took time with them. And the banter between Ray and Gary is oftentimes priceless. When they're waiting, need to kill time, they'll play these little games, like what is the best this or that, and they do it just like you do with a buddy, it resonates.
But what truly resonates is the depiction of life. Few of us are going anywhere fast, we're just trying to make a living, get by, prepare the next generation. And we're constantly pissed at the small intrusions, the injustices. And there are power struggles, and issues of trust and...these all come up in "Mr. Inbetween," but you're not being hit over the head.
There's violence and sometimes blood, but at other times it's patently sweet. I do not know why this isn't one of the most talked about shows out there. Maybe if it was on HBO. If it got the publicity it deserves.
"Mr. Inbetween" is a gem, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
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