TV Rewind | Crashing: Friends 2.0, Brit style

Crashing follows six twenty-somethings living together and navigating through life, work, friendships and romance. On the face of it, the concept is done to death and doesn’t sound like anything we have not seen before. However, what makes it refreshing is its strong and witty writing.

Here, the twenty-somethings live in a disused hospital. It took me a while to understand that in the UK, old buildings are leased out for residence, without many modifications.

What works for Crashing?

Crashing has several characters for a short series, but the personalities here are distinct enough for you to get invested and root for them.

The show opens with Phoebe’s Lulu dropping by the hospital-residence to surprise her childhood best friend Anthony. Traditionally, the first episodes of such shows are spent in boring introductions, but Crashing gets past it in a crisp fashion. The scavenger hunt plot helps speed things up, and by the end of this episode, the relationship dynamics, the characteristics and the interest of each character are quite clear.

Also, unlike other sitcoms, the supporting characters here don’t just facilitate Lulu and Anthony’s story. Their independent plots are much richer, which just gives you more as an audience. For instance, the storyline between Sam and Fred is engaging enough to keep you invested.

The content of Crashing can easily be described as frothy, but it is so smartly done that it does not feel completely frivolous.

Binge-worthy?

Even though Crashing is just six-episodes long, it certainly packs a lot of plot for those episodes.

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Crashing is streaming on Netflix.