Web Series Wednesday – The Non-Essentials

By: Spring Marie Cullen

WHAT? The Non-Essentials

BY: Briana Pozner, Justine Lupe, Colin Lupe and Josh Duvandeck

WHY SHOULD I WATCH?

The Non-Essentials is for anyone who’s ever been stuck in the same place with the same person every single day; a fate that most of us have experienced in our lives before, but especially this year due to quarantine. The series is billed as a micro-short series, made of little vignettes documenting the day to day life of Max (Josh Duvandeck) and Jessy (Justine Lupe), a couple forced to spend pretty much every waking moment together. The show explores the aspects of a relationship we don’t always see, the awkward moments born out of spending too much time together and the unfortunate and oftentimes unnecessary tension those moments can bring out.

In the first episode Max and Jessy have a heated discussion about one of the most important titles for millennials – Hogwarts House. Jessy is convinced she’s a Gryffindor, but when Max quickly labels her a Slytherin (with ample reasons to back it up) things get a little strained. There are negative connotations associated with Slytherin, so it makes sense that Jessy is so against it. However, Max didn’t help his case when he started listing some of her questionable behaviors instead of focusing on positive traits. The entire conversation feels entirely organic, which I absolutely loved. They’re both laying on the couch, doing their own thing on their phones, when the topic comes up. Duvandeck’s creative and hilarious rendition of “How Far I’ll Go” effortlessly leads into the debate and there’s a stark contrast between his state before the discussion and afterwards when he finally decides to cave.

Lupe’s subtle yet effective acting choices really sold this for me. While it would’ve been easy to play it up and turn it into an actual fight, The Non-Essentials delivers it straight and honest and it’s that much better because of it. You can see her go through a range of emotions in the short two minute episode; disappointment as he quickly calls her a Slytherin, the mental gymnastics she goes through when trying to convince him and partially herself that she’s not one and the hurt that slowly creeps in as the conversation goes on, no matter how hard she tries to fight it.

The Non-Essentials premiered on Monday, with new episodes slated to drop every Monday at 8pm through November 30th. If you want to watch a couple borderline pick fights with each other for no reason or you’re looking to find amusement in someone else’s lack of social interactions, this is the series for you. It’s extremely relatable and bound to be a great casual binge watch. I can’t wait to see more.

WHERE CAN I WATCH? Episodes are available on Adult Swim.

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