Sweetbitter

Have made it through 3 episodes which I think is a reasonable shot but that's as far as it goes. Careers from one cliche to another. Perhaps in other hands a show set behind the scenes in an upmarket New York restaurant could yield something a little more than on offer here, but then again perhaps not. It looks great but moody lighting and sultry acting isn't enough. A sit com might have worked better with this material or at least a plot with somewhere to go.

After watching Belgravia, I was intrigued by Ella Purnell. I thought her performance was the best part of the very British drama Belgravia, and I was curious to see what else she had done.

Ella's British accent was gone as she entered the big city alone and determined to experience everything.

I did enjoy Ella Purnell's performance, but the show struggled in season 2 in particular. It seemed like the show knew it was going to be cancelled and tried to wrap up storylines too quickly at the end of the season.

The Good: I enjoyed hanging out with the staff and getting to know each character. I feel like Simone, Sasha, Ari, and Heather are all part of my life now. Ella had great chemistry with Caitlin FitzGerald who played Simone. I found their relationship the most intriguing, and I would have liked to have seen them explore this on a physical level as well.

The Bad: I had a love with the restaurant in season 1 along with Tess. The restaurant itself loses the feeling that Tess talks about during her job interview in season 1. Perhaps it's intentional to show that Tess is seeing the reality of the restaurant the longer she works there. Howard is getting creepier, the flowers that Tess loved so much in season 1 are gone, shocking horrid scenes in episode 1 season 2 replace the beautiful atmosphere of the restaurant that we grew to love in season 1.

There's only so many nights as a viewer I can hang out at "Home Bar".

The showrunner's never fully explore Tess' family life before she gets to NYC. They do bring up issues in season 2 that allow Tess to reveal more about her past. But it really only touched the surface. Tess at the beginning of the series seemed extremely secretive about her past. We do learn a few things about her, but there were more possibilities to explore.

This was actually a bit of a period piece. The showrunner's intentionally placed the show in the 1990's before cell phones took over. There was a behind the scenes video after one of the episodes explaining how it was different to experience things on your own without posting it to the entire world on social media. The series focus was on walking with Tess as she filled her life with as many new experiences as possible. Tess was extremely open to experience everything she could and take it all in. The episode where she runs out to experience the first snow encapsulated this ongoing theme. Perhaps the showrunners are disillusioned with our current times where people experience so much of their life through their phones.

Conclusion: I'm happy I got to see Ella Purnell before Belgravia. I thought she had excellent performances throughout the series. I enjoyed getting to know the characters at the restaurant. I was disappointed they didn't fully develop the relationship between Tess and Simone. My favorite episode was when Tess spent the day with Simone eating grilled cheese and taking a nap in her tub. The showrunners decided to spend more time with Tess and Jake instead. I found that decision regrettable and less interesting. I do think the series ran its course after 2 seasons. I'm not surprised it wasn't picked up for a third. But I thoroughly enjoyed my time in NYC with Tess, Sasha, Ari, Simone, Heather and Will.

I managed to watch the entire first season in one day. It was good. Not great. Not terrible. IMO, if you want a fair review of this series, ignore all the one and ten star ratings. They simply are not realistic. It moves a little slow at times but the characters all become likeable in their own way. Never having worked in the food service industry, I can't say how accurately life is portrayed. Most of the characters seem depressed and without hope (and high :) all the time however, so that seems a bit over-played. The one aspect I found exceptionally annoying is how Tess is constantly portrayed as the "wide-eyed country bumpkin" stepping foot into the big city for the very first time. It was sort of cute in the first episode. It gets pretty old by the 6th episode. Started Season 2. Seems on-track so far.

This is a great show that simmers slowly and takes its time building the plot and characters over two gorgeously filmed seasons situated primarily in a restaurant modeled after Union Square Cafe in NYC in the early 2000s. It reminds me a bit of the series Felicity with Keri Russell from the late 90s: a shy, beautiful young woman moves to the big city looking to explore all the possibilities life may offer while she slowly discovers who she is and who she really wants to be. It's moody and thoughtful and gives us an accurate look into the life of young servers, bar and kitchen staff working in a high-end, high pressure restaurant. The episodes are only 30 minutes long, so things never get too deep and I think I appreciate this aspect. I can immerse myself a little, get the feeling and the vibe of the time and place and romance of it all; good escapism with a talented cast that serves up courses of relationship drama, intimacy and sex while bringing in well researched and even informational aspects of food and wine. If you enjoy coming of age stories and love food, you'll enjoy all the sweet and bitter this show has to offer.

Just finished season 2 on the starz app and loved it! Give us a season 3 with more episodes!