(courtesy IMP Awards)
SEASON 1
On the surface, there’s not a lot that’s remarkable about Michelle Buteau’s series, Survival of the Thickest.
Based on her book of humourous essays of the same name, the show centres on an aspiring fashion stylist, Mavis Beaumont (Buteau in the starring role; she is also co-creator and executive producer) who, though immensely talented and with a fresh eye that exposes those already in the industry as fossilised remnants simply coasting on past glories, can’t quite get the big break she needs.
But that’s okay, well at least a little, because she has the love of fashion photographer in demand, Jacque (Taylor Selé) who seems to be devoted to her and to helping her get the contacts she needs to get her career, one in her own right at least, on track.
It’s all looking loved and up and cosy until … yup, Jacque cheats on her, catapulting Mavis into the kind of transformational journeys we see a ton of in self-exploratory rom-coms which involve a radical change of living conditions – in this case with very weird but it turns out heartfelt lovely quirky roommate, Jade ( Liza Treyger) – the kinds of breaks that eluded the protagonist to date because (a) they’re desperate and take anything on and (b) they’re free from old expectations of themselves, and, of course, new love which comes out of nowhere but which doesn’t have the knowledge of the relationship they just left because now THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE.
None of that is shared to paint Survival of the Thickest as some tired retread of a thousand rom-coms past because it is anything but; sure, it has all the pieces in place but buoyed by some super snappy writing, Buteau’s witty, oneliner-heavy, sassy delivery and an ensemble cast who absolutely deliver in every scene, the show is a rampant blast of fresh air that’s alive with humour, charm, some truly sobering moments and the kind of raw humanity that somehow isn’t swallowed up alive by the blizzard of very funny moments swirling in and around them.
Standouts in the cast including Mavis’s besties, Khalil (Tone Bell), an art teacher and player who discovers that monogamy may, in fact, have a lot going for it, and corporate high flyer Marley (Tasha Smith) who, hilariously enjoys emasculating white men and exploring her emerging queer sexuality.
Throw in dreamy, sweet romantic prospect, Luca (Marouane Zotti) who may just be what the romance doctor ordered to drive those Jacque blue away, and you have a cast of characters who are more than a match for Mavis and who balance out this superbly written and acted romantic comedy-drama.
Smart and clever with episodes that exist perfectly in a tight 25-minute timeframe without once feeling rushed, Survival of the Thickest takes a well-worn premise, some heavily-used tropes and cliches and serves an enormously funny and heartfelt show that gets the dreamy aspirational parts spot on – we all want love and a career, right? – while being real and very human and admitting that, for all the fairytale stuff, life can also be a LOT.
Buteau makes it all look effortless and wholly believable and emotionally accessible, and much of the joy of season one is seeing her do well, and without ever being the butt of any of the jokes; Survival of the Thickest never resorts to easy laughs and preserves the dignity of all the characters while having a great deal of fun with the fact that even when things are going great, and they increasingly do for Mavis, that there are still challenges and existential potholes and that negotiating them, hopefully successfully, can make all the newly minted good things in your life feel even better than they already do.
Survival of the Thickest streams on Netflix.
And now for some musical fun that segues neatly into season two …
SEASON 2
(courtesy IMP Awards)
There are some advantages to being late to a first season of truly great show.
One of the chief ones is being able to dive straight into the second season, pretty much immediately, and notice some things that struck a chord on watching the first season but which really resonated in its successor to a powerfully entertaining degree.
Take the sheer full force energy of Survival of the Thickest, thanks largely to writing which takes no prisoners and which has presence, both dramatic and hilarious, and one Michelle Buteau who, as the protagonist of the piece, Mavis Beaumont, is a whole ton of vivacity and full speed aheadness that really cannot be missed.
In terms of character it makes lots of sense; Mavis wants to make something of her life, to see her stylist career go to some truly extraordinary places, not simply for her own sake but all the plus-size and trans women out there who have no longer been ignored by a fashion industry focused, almost entirely, on thin, glamourous cisgender women.
She is fighting a battle every step of the way, against a system weighted in favour of white people who force Black people like herself and BFFs Marley and Khalil to work a thousand times harder just to cover the same ground as their white contemporaries.
It’s exhausting and it exacts a toll, and while Survival of the Thickest isn’t polemic in any sense of the word, it does have a point to make, one that is woven quietly but purposefully into quite a few scenes and which stands out even amongst the sea of witty oneliners and garrulous clever and whippet smart banter.
What also really stood out this season, and to be fair was hardly pushed to the background in the first, was how queer this slice of contemporary urban storytelling is.
The favourite spot for the three besties to hang out? A super queer-friendly place called CC Blooms, run by a sassy, beautiful and heartfelt trans woman, Peppermint, who is not only a good and prevailing friend to the three but who brings around her a delightfully inclusive and richly nurturing found family of people who might otherwise have no place to go.
Playing a fictionalised version of herself in Survival of the Thickest, Peppermint and her found family coalesce around Mavis’s vision of a fashion world that caters to all comers, no matter their body size, and she forms a sizeable portion of the season when she marries the love of her life, a former male classmate who has fallen head over heels in love with her.
Her story is presented, as is so much of the mainstream-bucking narrative of Survival of the Thickest as a normal and natural part of life, which is exactly what it is; though the fact that the show has to highlight it indicates we have a way to go yet because the world at large sees it that way.
Whether it’s Mavis battling a designer who claims to love plus-size women and designing for them but who falls way short of the PR hype or her ongoing will-she, won’t-she find true love with Luca, Survival of the Thickest is a charm and a joy, all bristling snappy humour with a gooey, cosy heart that celebrates those who don’t fit the mold, and asks without malice but with real attitude, whether the mold shouldn’t be broken in favour of something else entirely?
While Survival of the Thickest ends with all the requisite ducks in a row, romantically and otherwise – it’s essentially a romcom so that is hardly a spoiler-laden surprise – and the series as a whole could likely end there quite comfortably, you can’t help wishing that the show would get a third and even a fourth season because here is writing with heart, soul, vibrant good humour and solid, soul-winning characterisation which deserves all the good things it can get, just like its protagonist who is, like all the cast, family by the end of this exemplary, life-affirming season.
Survival of the Thickest streams on Netflix.