‘How to Die Alone’ TV Review: Natasha Rothwell Steals the Show (and a Credit Card) as a Natural Born Lead
Near-death experiences famously create dissonance for those involved, a new outlook on life stemming from almost losing it. Natasha Rothwell (Insecure, The White Lotus) has a clear understanding of this and the humor involved, as her new Hulu series How to Die Alone explores this phenomenon with big laughs and a resonating heart evident in every episode. It’s an earnestly funny series created by and starring Rothwell that should create urgency in getting her pushed into as many shows as her schedule will allow.
Melissa (Rothwell) works at JFK International Airport transporting people across terminals, but seems stagnant in her own life. She isn’t doing well financially and feels isolated from those around her, even her best friend at work, Rory (Conrad Ricamora, How To Get Away With Murder), constantly bailing on her to hang out with men he says he won’t be seeing. She doesn’t have the best relationship with her brother, Brian (Bashir Salahuddin, The Dropout), who doesn’t have the best relationship with his wife – in fact, he’s seeing other women. After a particularly trying day filled with fantasies of leaving her current life, Mel charges new furniture to her card and heads home to assemble the new bookshelf that has brought her temporary contentment. The day goes from bad to worse when, after it’s fully together, the bookshelf falls on top of Melissa and effectively kills her for several minutes. She wakes up in the hospital to hear about her close call before having an eye-opening conversation with the woman she shares a room with, Elise (Jackie Richardson), realizing she’s living without joy. Elise has lived a mostly solitary life, but she’s found happiness for herself. Melissa knows it will be difficult given her financial situation, but she internally commits to pushing herself towards a new life.
To make things easier on her, Elise dies not long after her spiel about taking life by the horns, which leads Melissa to steal her credit card and take it home with her. It doesn’t take long for her to use it, purchasing plane tickets for herself to Hawaii to see her ex, Alex (Jocko Sims), get married. As the season progresses over its eight episodes, it cracks Melissa open and allows the woman within to escape, a person unafraid of trying new things, committed to compromise and looking within for happiness. It doesn’t take long for new opportunities to arise once she positions herself to attempt new things and to see unfamiliar moments as exciting instead of anxiety-inducing. The series moves Melissa into a management training program perfect for fast-tracking her career, then introduces a new problem in her life since Rory doesn’t want her in the program for personal reasons. How to Die Alone excels in these moments, as an earnest understanding of the complications newfound success can have on friendships where both parties have been semi-stuck for a similar amount of time. Rory can’t see this opportunity as exciting, not seeing outside himself, and Melissa is forced to make a decision that sees her taking ownership of her career without fear of the possible discomfort it could cause to her friend.
How to Die Alone manages to walk the fine line between corny and earnest, engaging in a bit of both that somehow works nicely to champion its lead as the comedic force she is. Rothwell was introduced to wide audiences through her work in Insecure (where she has been famously made into a meme for her character’s early-series line about growth) and earned an Emmy nomination for her supporting role in the first season of The White Lotus, so it was only a matter of time before she moved into a lead role. It seems to work better that it’s of her own creation, with a built-in understanding of the character that allows Rothwell to sit with her in quieter scenes and reveal the loneliness residing underneath Melissa’s surface. It’s those smaller moments that showcase her growth as episodes pass and provide a welcome addition of understanding the personal grief that comes with losing the person one used to be. While Conrad Ricamora is, unfortunately, unable to match the energy of his co-star with droll deliveries of otherwise funny dialogue, Bashir Salahuddin offers a subtle and hilarious look at a brother who doesn’t understand his sister without realizing their similarities. Rothwell and Salahuddin are magic whenever they share the screen and provide a realistic portrayal of siblings.
It’s difficult figuring out how we can provide for ourselves financially while retaining our humanity, our ability to experience joy and new adventures and seek new relationships. How to Die Alone understands this fully and doesn’t attempt to overstay its welcome in the process of a didactic season filled with jokes that largely work due to its creator. The financial struggle Melissa finds herself in is relevant and universally relatable, a desperation to seek aid in some way, whatever form that takes. She finds herself in situations that are dependent on money and the series deftly explores the impact it can have on our happiness and our ability to seek individuality. As much as it would like to be believed that money isn’t the key to happiness, it certainly allows us into situations that create contentment and relaxation, which goes directly into our general stability and happiness. Natasha Rothwell has put this struggle front-and-center in this series and successfully added dimension to an already funny series. Even when moments don’t work, How to Die Alone will deliver a joke seconds later that will take your mind off the previous miss.
With so many self-serious series on the market, it’s nice to indulge in one that makes its points while being fun and entertaining. How to Die Alone is a swing and a hit for Natasha Rothwell’s first lead role and hopefully marks the beginning of a long-lasting career that brings her more roles in producing as well as performing. A great series to welcome autumn with a message that’s universality serves as its biggest strength, How to Die Alone is an incredible guide on leveling up your life – even if that involves taking the credit card of a woman who died next to you.
Grade: B
How to Die Alone premieres September 13 only on Hulu.
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