ADVANCE PREVIEW: Netflix’s Pretty Smart Isn’t As Smart as I’d Hope
Netflix is gearing up to release its new comedy series, Pretty Smart, and the series may be too much for some watchers. Book smart Chelsea (Emily Osment) is all ready to settle down with her Harvard boyfriend and begin work on her very first novel in Sunny Los Angeles. As she awaits the arrival of her boyfriend in LA, Chelsea stays with her sister, Claire (Olivia Macklin) and Claire’s three roommates. Chelsea couldn’t be more different than the four LA natives and is counting down the minutes until she can finally leave her sister and her weird roommates behind. But, Chelsea suddenly finds herself having to rely on the four people she was hoping to escape when her plans come to a crashing halt.
If you can make it past the first episode of the series then you may find yourself starting to enjoy it. The characters in the first episode come off a little unlikeable and it is hard to get into the actual story. Chelsea and Claire couldn’t be more different and instead of finding that intriguing you are left hoping the two never end up getting along. However, if you can convince yourself to stick around for the second episode, most of the characters begin getting fleshed out and the story begins to become more bearable. The characters annoying traits in the first episode become fun quirks by the end of the season. And, characters you didn’t think you would like end up becoming some of your favs.
Influencer Jayden (Michael Hsu Rosen) and former lawyer, now healer, Solana (Cinthya Carmona) are the two characters that ended up becoming my favorites. Rosen and Carmona lean hard into their roles, and at first their performances are a little too much, but eventually the two manage to take characters that could be extremely annoying and make them fun.
Osment’s Chelsea takes awhile to warm up to, and some may end up never warming up to her. Her character does and says things that will leave you shaking your head and wanting the roommates to just kick her out of the house. But, the show needs a counter to all the positivity oozing out of the other four characters and that counter is Chelsea. Gregg Sulkin and Macklin round out the cast, but don’t hold a torch to Rosen and Carmona.
Pretty Smart is a quick watch. It is extremely predictable which makes it an easy show to have on in the background or while you are doing something else.
Photo credit: NETFLIX