riatambekar Mindy Kaling has done it again with yet another series that’s criminally underrated. Not Suitable for Work isn’t getting the hype it deserves, and if you’re looking for your next comfort watch, this is it. (It’s streaming on Hotstar, by the way.)
The show follows five neighbours as they navigate their careers, relationships, and everything that comes with being in your twenties. While watching it, I couldn’t help but think of FRIENDS. Not because it’s trying to copy it, but because of the way these five slowly become each other’s people. It’s funny, wholesome, chaotic, and incredibly relatable especially when it comes to figuring out work and trying to be taken seriously.
There’s AJ Pascaralli, an ambitious woman working in finance who’s the definition of a Type A personality and lives her life with discipline. Then there’s her roommate Abby, AJ’s college friend and a stylist whose journey is full of mistakes (the very real kind), showing the struggles that stylists actually face instead of glamorising the profession.
Then come the guys. Davis is AJ’s colleague, a hopeless romantic who’s constantly searching for the love of his life, only to get his heart broken a hundred times. His roommate, Josh Teitelbaum, is your typical rich, pampered kid who gets through life using his dad’s name, yet somehow still believes he isn’t a product of nepotism. And finally, there’s Kel Washington, an aspiring actor and former medical student who can’t stand the sight of blood and somehow ends up teaching in an high school, thanks to the ridiculously complicated LA acting scene.
Throughout the series, we watch these five go from complete strangers to becoming each other’s chosen family. It’s wholesome, funny, and surprisingly real. My takeaway is that it plays on the preconceived notion that Gen Z isn’t “suitable for work.” Every single one of them messes up, fails, questions themselves, and learns along the way but they always have each other to fall back on. And that’s exactly what makes the show so comforting. It has that same feeling FRIENDS gave us, where you finish an episode thinking, I want a friend group like that.
If you’re looking for something to binge over the weekend while you’re stuck indoors because of the rain, this is the perfect pick. Here’s hoping Season 2 comes out ASAP!
Image credits: Pinterest
