The girls on the bus
MAX, March 14, 2024
March 12, 2024
Photo by Nicole Rivelli/Max
Web Exclusive
The current The girls on the bus is a political drama centered on four women, of different generations, covering the race for the White House in the Democratic National Convention campaign from different perspectives for dramatically divergent exits. The 10-episode series is based on co-creator and writer Amy Chozick's 2018 memoir about her experience of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Chasing Hillary.
The central girl is millennial Sadie (Melissa Benoist, Super girl, Joy), a passionate young journalist who clings to the old school ways and writes for a heritage print newspaper. She has imaginary conversations with her writing guru, Hunter S. Thompson, and real ones with her mentor and publisher, Bruce (Griffin Dunne). Sadie has an alcohol-heavy relationship with Gen X Grace (Carla Gugino), a successful, seasoned and spontaneous journalist, wife and mother of a college-bound daughter who could be a crystal ball in Sadie's possible future. Lola (Natasha Behnam) is a borderline socialist Gen Z Iranian-American influencer with “more followers than Washington Post” who does things in a cutting-edge way with sponsors paying for her every move and live-streaming her experiences. Lola has a great deal of contempt for everyone around her, spouting expletives instead of actual sentences. Then there's Kimberlyn (Christina Elmore, The last ship, Insecure) a decidedly black centrist conservative reporter for a right-wing news platform. Kimberlyn's smooth exterior barely hides her struggles to balance her personal and professional life. At the same time, she deals with criticism from her fellow journalists at every turn.
In the pilot, Sadie appears as an extra and tries too hard to be crazy and smart, her idealism coloring her objectivity. Her friendship with Grace has a clique feel to it, the two will stop at nothing to get the inside scoop. Instead, Lola has a false sense of power due to her massive following, but quickly discovers that real journalism is more complex and the issues more multi-layered than her superficial understanding of politics and economics. Kimberlyn turns out to be the most likable character. She is blocked not only by her Democratic counterparts, but also by her colleagues who turn her excellent journalism into a comedy routine.
The seasoned actors nail their characters. Being with each other day after day, these women begin to support and care for each other. Their growing friendships seem natural and believable, despite their differences. In fact, their conflicting opinions are what keep their interactions interesting.
The political intrigue is light, more fun than dark, but that's not the point. The girls on the bus it's for women who now have a seat on a bus that only carried men. The series title is a play on Timothy Crouse's 1972 non-fiction book, The boys on the bus. Also drawn from Hunter S. Thompson's 1973 book, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Instead, the male characters up The girls on the buseven those who are potential presidential candidates and press secretaries/love interests are secondary to the main line of these women's careers and dynamic friendships.
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The further The girls on the bus gets into his stories, the more likable the central characters become and the more invested you become in what happens to them. The series starts with two episodes and will continue with one episode per week. (www.max.com/shows/girls-on-the-bus/)
Author Rating: 6.5/10
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