Fleishman is in Trouble

Even if you’re not a Real Housewives watcher, chances are you’ve heard something about their real personal lives, or the real personal lives of other reality television stars. Often, their time on those TV shows spells doom for their real-world relationships, and that’s often because people watching them notice and comment on them. Once others point problems out to them, they begin to take note of issues in their lives themselves, and even act on them in a way that leads to the aforementioned doom.

That’s a long-winded way to sum up the very real-world appeal of Fleishman Is in Trouble, a fine, well-acted drama in which the once very much in love Rachel and Toby Fleishman, Upper East Side New Yorkers with thriving careers and two children, find their happiness chipped away by problems that can be somewhat boiled down to a lack of communication, and even more so by a lack of understanding and empathy for each other.

It’s these prescriptive elements of the story of Rachel and Toby’s divorce (and the roles their friends play in it) that make this more than just an entertaining drama, though it is certainly that. Despite some truly harsh and specific confrontations and recriminations between the Fleishmans, there’s also humor, especially in Toby and Rachel’s early getting-to-know-you days, when Toby re-enters the dating world (oh, the apps!), and when he renews his college friendships with Libby and Seth after his break-up. The focus of most the action on a relatively small cast, in fact, gives the series an almost play-like feel, and a chance to dive deep into the characters and their motivations, and again, maybe your own along the way. A well-plotted twist in the second half of the season also might force you to switch, or at least widen, your allegiances among the Fleishmans and their crew.