'Firefly Lane' Review

I just binged this show in two days and I have so many thoughts about it I felt the only way to process all of them would be by writing a little review on my little old blog. I will pre-warn you this post will include spoilers from the show so if you haven't watched it yet and don't want to have it spoiled I'd advert your eyes. But still come back to read it of course!

Firefly Lane is a drama series on Netflix that centers around two best friends Tully (portrayed by Katherine Heigl) and Kate (Sarah Chalke) and their nearly 30 years of friendship. The show flips between 4 different points in their lives: when they met in the 70s as teenagers, during their working lives in the 80s, their future in 2003 and then 2 years later. We follow the pair through the fights and strong bonds to see Tully as a famous television host and Kate about to divorce her husband, Johnny (Ben Lawson) and the struggles that's brought on their 14 year old daughter, Marah (Yael Yurman). 

What this show does flawlessly is flip between each of these time periods without making it confusing or jolting. I mean it is clear we're in the 80s from the bold blue eye shadow as opposed to the 2000s much more subdued style but each time we flip you unlock a new aspect of the pairs story. In the 70s we discover Kate's brother, Sean (Jason McKinnon), is gay after Tully catches him kissing one of his male friends he's never far apart from. Through the time flashes we learn Sean is married to a woman and that he still hasn't talked about his true sexuality to his sister. Each new glimpse into the past or the future is never for no reason. We watch Tully in 2000s be strong and independent and single, not having any intention to commit, but after flashbacks to the 70s we realise as a teen she was sexually assaulted and her drug addicted mother made her home life very uneasy. One of my favourite story lines was watching how Kate and Johnny fell in love. Initially we think it's clear Johnny is in love with Tully, especially after he stays with in in 2003 after his pending divorce from Kate. A part of me was disappointed by this. I felt I didn't want to watch a story about two best friends fall apart over a man but it then takes a U turn. While Johnny and Tully did have a drunken night together in the 80s (which Kate knew about) you begin to see a more natural less lustful romance bloom between Kate and Johnny. You learn that at their core they really were friends and while Johnny does love Tully it's not in the same way he loves Kate. 

Now I'll be brutally honest, I don't always love the main female characters in TV shows. Sometimes they can come across obnoxious while trying to portray themselves as strong or sometimes they can be just one dimensional and I don't feel myself being remotely attached to them. Firefly Lane was so brilliant at changing this for me. On the surface Tully is cocky, a little narssistic at times and rude but through looking at her past we see where this comes from. However, we do see the vulnerable sides of her especially watching her unfold after her miscarriage in 2003. I think the thing with Tully is she feels so deeply and intensely that the only way she can handle it is being like a hurricane. What I admire so much in her is her ability to always get up and keep trying and be truly passionate about what she wants to do in life. Kate on the other hand is Tully's opposite but that's why they work so well. You initially just think she'll be the pining friend following Tully at her ankles taking anything that is left after Tully. In a way she does do that but it's not because she's weak it's because she knows when to pick her fights. Above all she is loyal. After the magazine company she was working for released a slander piece on Tully she quit and told her boss when to stick it and I loved that moment. It showed that while Kate has different priorities to Tully she has a fire in her and always sticks up for what she believes in and isn't just a wet paper towel friend. 

It's not just Tully and Kate's lives that we get a glimpse into. The writers really took time to flesh out the side characters to make the whole show feel raw and well rounded. We got to learn about Kate's mum's affair and how that changed the way she viewed her parents marriage. We see how Sean has to cope with hiding his sexuality. We also about Max (Jon-Michael Ecker), Tully's love/fling in 2003, and his Colombian back ground and how family orientated he is. The show covers so much but in such a delicate and fleshed out way: sexuality, drug addiction, family, love and fame to name but a few. With the recent wake of the Me Too movement we even flash back to Tully having a producer blackmailing her into sleeping with him to get her dream job in the 80s. In an act of defiance and also self defense we see her knee him in his private area and tell him where to shove his job. It reminds us of how different the times were with handling sexual assault and sexuality but the saddest part is those things are still an issue today we just have more brave people coming forward and speaking on those issues. This is seen when Tully's TV sponsors drop her show after she openly talks about her miscarriage and even asks her audience to share their experiences. This is something that would have happened in 2003 and it's not even as though that is many years ago it was 20 years ago. The show handles all of these issues perfectly and delicately. 

The flash forward to 2005(ish) we see Kate about to attend a funeral. At first we think this may be Tully but then we discover Tully is alive and it's actually Kate's father's funeral. However, the two are no longer on speaking terms and Kate says she will never forgive Tully for what she did. So while we see these two happy celebrating the new year for 2004 we are left to wonder what happened. The show manages to give you cliff hangers without making them obvious they're cliffhangers. We even see Johnny injured in an attack reporting in a war zone abroad. What's next for these girls? I want to know more! I can't wait for the next series and I encourage anyone who hasn't watched this show yet to give it a go. These are just some of my thoughts. There was so much in this show it's hard to put it all down in one post but for anyone who has seen it please don't hesitate to contact me!