Tiny Beautiful Things

It’s a series full of touching little revelations (a possible alternative title?) that are hard not to relate to, no matter what kind of life you’ve lived. True to its memoir/essay source genre, the show mirrors real, lived experiences. Not all moments point toward a central theme or plot but rather form a constellation of stories that embody the human experience, in all its joy and despair. 

When we meet Clare (the Strayed stand-in), her husband has just kicked her out, she’s clashing with her daughter, and she’s sleeping at the nursing home where she works. It’s not the kind of life one pictures an advice-column writer leading, and Clare feels the same way. But as we watch her piece together the shreds of her life and find meaning in the process, it’s clear that these are exactly the stories the advice-seekers need to hear. 

Kathryn Hahn anchors the series with messy and grounded charisma. If you saw Hahn’s performance in Mrs. Fletcher, you’ll be rewarded by her in this series–another flawed, yearning, and electrically alive woman and mother. And if you’re one of the lucky few who caught The Wilds, you’ll enjoy Sarah Pidgeon as the younger Clare at 22, who matches Hahn’s rough-and-tumble charm and carries it through moments when her grief is much fresher. The two performances come together to form a rich portrait of a writer whose difficult life informs her poignant essays. 

If the whole affair sounds like a buzzkill, it’s decidedly not. Like in life, misery pairs with laughter, and grief pairs with absurdity. It’s full of scenes that are funny because of their stranger-than-fiction specificities, like when young Clare has to run to the store to buy underwear for her mother to be buried in because the funeral home won’t let her go commando, or adult Clare’s misadventure with an Uber Pool driver and a waterbed. The result is a series that makes you lean in and revel in its details. Like reading a good memoir, watching Tiny Beautiful Things reminds you you’re not alone, and even suggests that your experiences, no matter how small, might be worth sharing.