Everything (not really)

Created by Mindy Kaling – Starring Ella Hunt, Avanthika Vandanapu, Will Angus, Nicholas Duvernay, Jack Martin, Constance Wu, Victor Garber, and Judy Gold.

Not Suitable for Work steadily won me over as the season went along. The comedy became sharper, the ensemble found its rhythm, and by the finale I was far more invested in these characters than I expected to be after the premiere.

I especially enjoyed how willing it was to challenge first impressions. Josh (Jack Martin) initially comes across as an entitled nepo baby, only to become one of the show’s more endearing characters. Meanwhile, AJ (Ella Hunt) arrives in New York with the wide-eyed optimism of someone you’re immediately inclined to root for, only to gradually reveal a colder, more career-driven side that continually complicates your feelings toward her. That willingness to let its characters evolve, rather than remain fixed sitcom archetypes, gives the ensemble a welcome sense of unpredictability.

The romantic storylines can be a little clumsy. Relationships form quickly, old feelings resurface, and more than a few emotional turns feel rushed. Yet somehow the messiness works in the show’s favor. Even when I questioned how characters arrived at certain moments, I still found myself invested in seeing where those relationships would ultimately land.

The series is at its funniest when it embraces broader, almost farcical comedy. Some of the season’s biggest laughs come from throwing its characters into increasingly awkward social situations and simply letting the chaos unfold. Those moments balance out the more dramatic storylines and give the show an energy that becomes increasingly confident as the season progresses.

Like many series about twenty-somethings, it also captures the push and pull between career ambitions, friendships, and figuring out adulthood—while simultaneously asking us to believe everyone can somehow afford impossibly spacious, beautifully decorated New York apartments. That’s TV logic for you.

Not every dramatic turn lands. Some conflicts feel a little manufactured, and a few are wrapped up more neatly than they probably should be. But the finale leaves the characters in interesting places, teasing another round of messy friendships, romances, and career complications that I’d happily come back for.

Not Suitable for Work wasn’t perfect, but by the end of its first season it had found enough charm, humor, and heart to leave me wanting to see a second.

Verdict: I’m On Board