Who is it obvious to?

Normal People — 3.5/5

I was invested in these idiots up until the last episode throws it all out the window. Paul Mescal has the best version I've seen of Guy Who Looks At Things, Unable To Speak His Heart's Desire. He reeks of anxiety and discomfort. In many ways, I see an older version of myself in the character! Unable to articulate; an inability to be normal. (But at least not ordinary, ho ho ho.) The only difference between he and I is intense beauty. I think that's core to the show's trick—it's a show for the ineffective intellectual, except these two are exceedingly handsome so it's both easier for everyone to watch and harder to understand why they can't be normal, given how well they seem to fit into the "wanted by others" mold. Throughout the show, they drive you crazy with how teenager they are, how they overthink and underthink, but their connection is real. They are at their best when they're together, and they both know it. So for the show to end with her pushing him to chase an ambition (which is never really explored (because he's so internal)), and for her to stay in a life she claims to enjoy (which is never really explored (because she's so internal)) feels like it wants to break your heart more than it wants to make sense. To a degree, I can see it; shy idiots, of which I once was and still retain a measure, don't have the confidence to know what's right for them, as they proved again and again throughout the series. But I don't think that fixes the ending, as it's not played that way. It plays them at the end as healthy. But healthy is embracing the thing that can fix you, not continuing to chase discomfort.

Preferably, I see this as a prequel to "Aftersun." That movie gives a better ending to Connell's character. Lost, adrift, still wanting an undefinable, with no way to piece it together, though it might be as simple as what's right in front of him.