Summary
Survival of the Thickest highlights the humor and ability of Michelle Buteau but fails to live up to its true potential.
Michelle Buteau is known for making us laugh on the stage during her stand-up specials. However, she has created an eight-episode comedy series, Survival of the Thickest, in which she also stars. The show also features stars Tasha Smith, Christine Horn, and Tone Bell.
Survival of the Thickest Could Have Been More Balanced
Survival of the Thickest follows Mavis Beaumont, who finds herself back on the dating market while she is having to rebuild her life as a struggling stylist.
When we meet Mavis, she has this larger-than-life personality that feels constricted by being an assistant to a stylist. She is enthralled after finding out she has a meeting about potentially getting her own gig. However, things quickly go awry after finding her boyfriend, Jacque, cheating on her in their bed. Mavis goes off the deep end, beating them both up.
The series is built on a strong foundation with its writing of the main character. Mavis is front and center for a reason as she is a strong yet at times vulnerable woman who is trying to navigate through life chasing this dream which is thrown a massive curveball. This character’s resilience in the writing was a huge strong suit in making Mavis work.
The comedy writing in Survival of the Thickest could have been more balanced. There are genuinely some hilarious laugh-out-loud moments in the show, but for every joke that lands, there are two or three more that make you roll your eyes. This should’ve been the Mavis show, and the Mavis show only instead of trying to add other elements that never fully develop enough for you to care.
Is Survival of the Thickest Season 1 worth watching?
Of course, Michelle Buteau shines bright with her vibrant, spunky personality that oozes charisma. Sure, the one-liners are there, but her delivery makes even some of the mediocre jokes that much funnier. Buteau makes this show worth binging, and without her, it would falter. While Buteau shines as Mavis, I loved Tone Bell as Khalil. The writing of Mavis and Khalil’s relationship continues the great trend of showing that men and women can be friends.
The way the color palette of this show was used to express the emotions of what was going on with Mavis is worthy of an entire conversation of its own. Cinematographer Dagmar Weaver-Madsen deserves much credit for making this show pop in a way that very few series understand. Weaver-Madsen’s work alongside the directors makes this an aesthetically pleasing show and should not go unnoticed.
It’s a relatively straightforward comedy that doesn’t make you think, and that’s often the type of shows audiences are looking to binge. While not as good as one might have hoped, it does have enough strong elements to be enjoyable.
Survival of the Thickest has some glaring issues with the script, and that holds it back from being anything more than a forgettable Netflix series. That said, with the series having some solid funny moments and an inspirational story mixed with eight zippy thirty-minute episodes, it is a worthwhile, easy binge.
What did you think of Survival of the Thickest Season 1? Comment below.
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