Does this show sound like it would be good? A fictional behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of a reality dating show and the producers who manipulate people to get the results they want. Reality dating shows are both an easy target and well-worn comedic territory at this point. Making it a drama doesn't inherently seem that interesting either. Did I mention it airs on the Lifetime network?
As unlikely as it sounds, UnReal is a good show. It's not great, but it's much better than I anticipated and much better than it has any right to be. I assume UnReal might be the type of show better enjoyed by people not into reality dating shows - or reality shows in general. For one thing, the verisimilitude of the show is not too high. It's not a huge issue in enjoying the show, but I strongly suspect it's not altogether close to how reality TV works in real life. Some reality show TV watchers may care about that. For another thing, well, it's clearly an indictment on reality dating shows (and basically any reality show that involves producers probably making a not unsubstantial impact on how characters act)
In that vein, UnReal is best understood as a character study. The protagonist of the story, Rachel, is a highly effective and manipulative producer. She is exceptionally good at her job, but she still has a thing called a conscience. Being good at manipulating people to do what you want to make good television and having a conscience aren't things that go together that well. The central mystery behind Rachel is she hates what her job makes her do, but she also she likes being really good at her job.
She's not completely irredeemable. She broke down on the last season of "Everlasting" (the name of the show within the show) which led to her being broke, about to be kicked out of her rent-sharing apartment, and with nowhere to go. With no money, she is incentivized by cash bonuses to produce results such as pushing some of the girls - unknowingly - into being villains for the sake of the show. "The know what they signed up for" is a common refrain of the producers of the show - it must have been said about 10 times throughout the season - but it is pretty clear they don't. They are cut off from the world, fed lines by a producer that may or may not be true (and said producers tend to be clever about it - in ideal circumstances, the girls have no idea they are being manipulated), and they kind of just have to hope that they aren't portrayed badly.
Rachel's boss, Quinn, is a walking contradiction of sorts. She is very cynical about love and seems willing to do just about anything to get ratings. She's ruthless and cold. But she also clearly believes in the idea of love, because of her relationship with Chet. She also seems to look out for her own. She gives Rachel a second chance, although she basically blackmails her, but she truly believes she knows what's best for her.
Among the contestants, only a few stand out. In fact, the competition isn't even the point for most of the episodes. There is no suspense as to who will be cut until the very later episodes, not because we know who will be cut, but because the show doesn't even pretend to care about cutting the nameless women who exit every episode. Anna, played by Johanna Brady (Quantico), is pretty clearly going to be one of the last ones standing early on in the show. The Everlasting producers aim to make her a villain - and villains as I understand reality dating shows are guaranteed a certain number of weeks - despite the fact that she is extremely sweet and one of the nicest characters on the show.
There's also Faith, who is at first a stereotypical country bumpkin, who is frankly great for television. One of the false notes of the show is that the producers constantly wanted to get her off the show, because... they thought she acted like a man and was "unattractive." (The characters are despicable enough that I'm going to give the show the benefit of the doubt here and assume this is a commentary on what TV considers unattractive) It was a false note, because it seems like they would love her brand of awkwardness and country slang, which would probably lead to clips of them making fun of her (which they do.)
There's also Grace, played by Nathalie Kelly (best known for, um, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift before this), who quickly gets painted as a "slut." ("Sluts get cut" is another thing the producers say a few times, which I'm pretty sure is definitely not true.) There's Mary, who plays the role of desperate single mother (God I hope that's not really a thing, but it seems like it would be a thing) Lastly, they pay lip service to racism on the show that inspired this one, but then they don't give either of the two black characters on their show anything interesting to do. One of them is happy to be the "Omarosa" of the season, because she's just in it for the attention, and the other is there to complain about the absurdity of how this is a waste of her time, all the while the show is wasting the actress' time giving her nothing to do.
They all vie for the attention, love, and hopeful marriage to Adam Cromwell. Cromwell is English royalty, but he's on the show to rehabilitate his image. He's also there to prove to his father that he doesn't need him. So he pretty much matches the cynicism and fakeness of the producers as it's clear he isn't interested in finding true love
One of the main storylines of the first season is the "love triangle" of Adam, Rachel, and The Blandest (Jeremy). The Adam-Rachel part works just fine, based off the chemistry of Freddie Stroma, and Shirri Appleby. But Jeremy sucks so much as a character. He's the blandest bland of bland that ever blanded. He also doesn't seem like a nice guy at all and he's kind of portrayed as the "nice" safe choice for Rachel. He and Rachel have the history and they sure aren't convincing. Appleby is otherwise fantastic so I can only assume that it's Josh Kelly's fault. He starts off the season with a fiancee, and I'll never see a more fitting term than Blonde Extra #1.
As I said before, this is a character study and with any character study, you watch it because the actors and the writers have crafted such well-realized characters. (The best example is Mad Men.) There are essentially three complex characters that make the show worth watching: Rachel, Quinn, and Adam. I've never seen Appleby in anything before this, but she sure seems perfectly cast. Similarly, Constance Zimmer is captivating every minute she's on screen as Quinn. Those two immediately seem to get into their characters, whereas it takes longer to get accustomed to Stroma, but he sure grew on me as the season went on.
Like I said before, I don't think this show is great. There are too many dead weights as characters. It sometimes feels like the show is manipulating me like the producers are manipulating the contestants. It tended to go a little too far at certain points in darkness. There's also a fine line between sympathetic characters with serious flaws to characters who you have no interest in being invested in because their actions are too terrible - and they may have gone on the wrong side of that line in this season. But overall, it's a strong first season with great performances. Better yet, I am excited to see what they can do in season two, because the potential is there for it to become a great show.
Grade - B
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