Humans logo

Normal People: TV Review

Does the Sally Rooney's adaptation live up the the hype?

By Ted RyanPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
1

Sally Rooney's debut novel of first love and sexual awakening has been adapted into a serial drama. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal as childhood friends who weave in and out of each other’s lives in this exploration of sex, power and the desire to love and be loved.

The twelve episode arc spans across their tender beginning in sixth form in rural Ireland and follows them through their studies in university, depicting that transition from adolescence to adulthood - but was it worth the hype?

As a writer/screenwriter myself who often tackles topics which feature in this show and write characters in their late teens and twenties, this should have been right up my street. However, it took me three whole episodes to empathise with these characters and another three to actually feel invested. The first two episodes really impacted my viewing experience with this show.

Casting wise, I thought Daisy Edgar-Jones was superb in this role - she had a timeless look that made it believable we were seeing her as an naive teen into a blossoming young woman. Her acting outdid some of the more seasoned actors and even outshone her co-star at times. Paul Mescal was a decent actor, it took me awhile to warm to his character and his acting - he came across as quite stiff in some scenes and then actually gave impressive performances in others. So I was on the fence with him, especially when compared to Edgar-Jones.

The contrast of seeing Marianne (Edgar-Jones) grow from the weird girl who excels academically at uni and Connell (Mescal) as the popular guy who peaked in school had so many layers to be explored - and once we get to episode 3, we get to see those layers. But it shouldn't take that long. For episodes that were already so short, I felt valuable time was wasted on pointless sex scenes and nudity - the conversations post sex held much more weight and vulnerability.

However, the series seemed to breathe new life when Marianne and Connell were in university and the story really kicked in. There were much stronger characters moments, which made me feel that this show should’ve been told in a non linear narrative. Personally, if the show started with Connell meeting Marianne at a university party and we steadily got flashbacks of their past, I feel I would've been more invested.

Mental health and intimacy issues were addressed rather well in this show. Marianne and Connell not only suffer with these issues, but we see the characters them coming to that realisation and seeking help or stopping unhealthy patterns of behaviour. This is a rarity as usually these themes are glamorised or dramatised without showing the healing process - there are many aspects that both of the leads have to come to terms with that was a great part of the show.

We see both Connell and Marianne essentially grow up throughout this series, learning what real love and intimacy is. I didn't think I'd say this around episode 2, but the final scene in episode 12 was truly beautiful - the writing and acting was just so raw and truthful and showed how far both characters had come.

Aside from my issues with the unnecessarily long sex scenes, the series overall had powerful character moments, bold writing and a fantastic ensemble cast. I genuinely hope more of Rooney's novels are adapted for the screen.

Normal People can be streamed on BBC THREE in the UK and on HULU in the USA.

tv review
1

About the Creator

Ted Ryan

When I’m not reviewing or analysing pop culture, I’m writing stories of my own.

Reviewer/Screenwriter socials: Twitter.

Author socials: You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Goodreads as T.J. Ryan.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.