What Insatiable did RIGHT

The Netflix Original show got some MAJOR criticism after its release- mostly aimed at the main characters random personality changes and the ‘unrealistic’ things she does without getting arrested.

I’ll admit, the attempted kidnapping, attempted murder and the fire-starting was…..intense. But it was all part of the humour. The show isn’t all about Patty Bladell though! Christian was a realistic creep (the GPS tracking is a tried and tested stalking method after all) and while Brick was a little TOO much of a Mary sue, he was pretty solid overall.

Crazy Stella Rose is incredibly psycho but again, realistic. I’ve known people that would definitely give a child into adoption because they got dumped. My point is- everyone except for Patty is pretty realistic overall. The situations are about 50/50.

The show handles LGBTQ+ issues incredibly well in comparison to the other iffy shows on Netflix’s roster. As Brick said- “Gay, Bi, that’s fine it’s the cheating that isn’t’. The show also handles a Poly relationship with some realism. The problems and struggles are ones that I have seen in real life couples. Nonnie accepting herself after her first gay date was heart-warming and its accepted by pretty much everyone. In fact, maybe that’s the only thing they did wrong- it’s a progressive world, sure, but unfortunately homophobic teens are still around, and this show has a significant lack of them.

The pressure of pageants is also a massive point of call and Magnolia Barnard turning to drugs was an interesting plot twist. She was really quickly whisked off to rehab and her only points of lows were finding her passed out on her bed. Magnolia was a functioning drug addict who got the help she needs, and it looks easy and almost reassuring that the process worked for her. Pageants have a toll on pretty much every character that is in them-Magnolia turned to drugs, Dixie turned to bullying and Patty goes back to binge eating.

Dixie St Clair’s adoption arch brought up some….questionable writing and yet was completely in spec with the rest of the show. The mentions of amber alerts, how questionable parenting leads her to not knowing how to accept her family and trying to sleep with her brother. She has her own self-image issues and that is potentially due to her mother and her overbearing problems about ‘staying young’.

The major one that I feel was handled well by Insatiable was Patty’s eating disorder. They even state it in the show- Every time Patty hates herself she calls herself fat. She wouldn’t wear a bikini unless she lost even more weight than she lost in the first place. She had lost 70 but wanted to lose another 100 before ‘even thinking’ about a bikini. She binge eats and hates herself for it, she cries, and she goes on about how being skinner should make her happy. Her happiness is linked to her weight and they make it clear in every episode.

In the Season 1 Finale (before bludgeoning Christian) She even talks about how she has now moved forward and accepted how food used to control her- and that food had even saved her when she used it to escape her captor in the wiener truck. In the first episode of the next season we see that it’s not the case and she has fallen back into her old food hating habits.

Bricks statutory rape was admittedly a little rushed and brushed over, much like Bricks actual character. He has his whole world turned upside down so many times and handles it all brilliantly. He is the perfect white knight for Patty and handles the Christian stalker situation rather well considering everything Patty and Christian had done to them.

We can just ignore the fact that murder gets brushed over more than a Bob Ross Canvas. The show takes serious matters, realistic-is dialogue and glams it up so younger audiences could experience them and know that it’s a part of life.