One of those anything-goes streaming series is "Platonic," and the general consensus is that once prominent actors agree to star, they can do anything, or almost nothing in this case. In a show that purports to explore male-female friendships but actually functions more like a lighthearted ode to a stoner aesthetic, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne thus waste time arguing and sparring.
Sylvia, played by Byrne, and Will, played by Rogen, were once best friends before she told him she couldn't stand the woman he was going to marry. She reaches out to him somewhat impulsively when she learns that they are getting divorced. After a brief period of awkwardness, they immediately resume their relationship in a manner that disturbs their lives.
For Sylvia, a housewife to three kids, that dynamic at first bothers and later stimulates doubts in her significant other (Luke Macfarlane), an effective legal counselor who doesn't actually get envious until individuals allude to Will as his better half's "sweetheart."
Concerning Will, he has work issues with the mates with whom he runs a brew bar and starts carrying on his newly discovered singleness by dating a 25-year-elderly person, provoking him to worry about whether he's turning into some kind of moderately aged buzzword.
There is not much more to "Platonic" other than that, with Rogen and Byrne serving as producers (naturally). The two day-drink, take drugs, and turn to each other for advice have lengthy conversations in the show, despite constantly reassuring everyone that she is married and nothing unsavory is going on.
Although it isn't as consistently funny as something like "Shrinking," another Apple TV+ show that addresses the same kind of midlife crisis-related issues with a greater sense of purpose, the sloppy pacing is entertaining on occasion.
In contrast, "Platonic" doesn't even really go into much detail about male-female relationships and how they are viewed as we get older, or how Sylvia and Will got to the level of intimacy they used to have and were able to quickly rediscover.
As a result, Sylvia's return to the workforce and the show's overall mood are more enjoyable than belly laughs or small moments like the music from "Working Girl." Fundamentally, the crowd is passed on to act as observers while Rogen and Byrne examine everything without exception, such that is refreshingly regular yet additionally ailing in any need to get moving.
With her other show, "Physical," returning for a third and final season in August, Byrne has established herself as a valuable contributor to Apple. Rogen has made some meaningful difference basically as a maker, including Amazon's hit hero parody "The Young men."
However, the minor key in which "Platonic" operates makes it difficult to avoid the impression that it is yet another vain attempt to satiate the streaming altar. The net impact is a show, maybe fittingly, that is sufficiently simple to like, and exceedingly difficult to cherish.
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