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Alice and Steve is the newest comedy series on Hulu (Disney+ internationally), and the premise might immediately suck you in due to how shocking it is.
Alice (Nicola Walker) is a woman whose decades-long friendship with Steve (Jemaine Clement) becomes strained when she learns he is dating her daughter, Izzy (Yali Topol Margalith). Yikes.
There’s a lot to unpack here. Steve has been in Alice’s life for many years, even going on holiday with her and her family and spending Christmas with them all. So learning that he is dating her 26-year-old daughter makes her lose her mind, understandably so, as it seems so out of the blue.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Alice and Steve definitely leans more into the comedy and absurd elements to lighten things up. As an audience, we get to laugh at the mess they’ve all found themselves in, like flies on the wall. Rather them than me.
One of my biggest frustrations is that the chemistry between Steve and Izzy is lacking, and their relationship doesn’t seem to make any sense. It moves very fast, what appears to be a rebound after Izzy’s breakup escalates at lightning speed, and by the second episode, the two are in a relationship, labels and all. Hey, you do you, I guess, but it does feel like they’ve just been mashed together as the catalyst for some drama.
If you are willing to suspend your disbelief, there’s plenty of fun to be had here. Nicola Walker never disappoints, and she does a great job here as a scorned mother and friend, absolutely horrified by the situation. Alice is a very well-rounded character who makes some childish decisions throughout the series, but given everything that’s happening, it’s easy to still feel sorry for her.
Alice tries to sabotage the relationship and get life back to normal, meddling and scheming in ways that cause division between her and everyone around her. It is a desperate attempt to put things right, even though she can’t reasonably control the actions of anyone but herself.
Alice and Steve is funny and did make me laugh out loud on several occasions. Marcia Warren is a great addition to the cast as Alice’s mother, Val, who delivers some sharp takedowns when needed, and Joel Fry adds tension as Alice’s husband, who has a strained relationship with her at the best of times.
We also have Alice and Daniel’s son, Dom (Tyrese Eaton-Dyce), and his girlfriend, Rome (Eilidh Fisher), whose sweet dynamic provides a break from the constant drama at the center of the show.
Across six episodes, we get to witness the various family dynamics and how chaotic they are. It feels well-paced, and there’s plenty of screen time for supporting cast members, too.
The relationship between Steve and Izzy is the sort of scandal that can rapidly spiral out of control, with plenty of characters weighing in even when it’s really none of their business. That element of it is wildly entertaining to watch as you form your own opinions, too. Nobody in Steve and Izzy’s lives is particularly enthused by their relationship, making it impossible for them to be a normal couple.
Whilst many of the decisions and narrative beats in Alice and Steve are deliberately shocking, some frustrated me more than others. This is definitely the kind of show that will have people engaged in debates around what’s happening and whether or not we think it was the right thing to do. You’ll know what I mean when you watch it unfold.
There’s a cliffhanger to the series, too, leaving the door open for a season 2, which might never arrive. In a world of streaming, where our favorite shows sometimes get canceled, I always worry that a story will be half-told.
Even though I didn’t like Alice and Steve as much as others, and would go as far as to say it was “fine”, I do hope that fans get a satisfying ending. Leaving everyone in limbo after so much character-driven drama feels very cruel indeed.
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