Fleishman Is in Trouble season 1 episodes 1 & 2 recaps & review

The first two episodes of Fleishman Is in Trouble explore how the life of Toby Fleishman has changed after going through a divorce. Both episodes are now available to stream on Hulu.

Episode 1 recap: Summon Your Witnesses

Toby Fleishman wakes up to a new start at a new apartment after going through a divorce with his wife of 15 years, Rachel. A number of girls are storming on his phone at the moment.

He reminisces about the time he was married to Rachel until a message on his phone notifies him that she dropped their children off at his apartment a day earlier to attend a yoga retreat.

He is furious as he had other plans, and he just can’t call their babysitter, Mona, as he wants to spend time with his kids while they are with him.

Toby’s son, Solly, loves him, but the same isn’t the case with his daughter, Hanna. She despises him and constantly fights him for several things.

He drops them off at the 92nd Street Y, which is usually crowded with parents.

One of them even sympathizes with Toby and invites him to a family dinner, something he doesn’t really like as all of these Rachel’s friends only talk about their family wealth.

Back at his hospital, he discloses to his interns that he is now divorced, and they tell him to join a dating app. Toby gets obsessed with that app and spends most of the time talking to a number of women online.

Toby also follows his therapist’s advice and reunites with his best friends, Libby and Seth. The trio hasn’t gotten along like that ever since he married Rachel.

He details his dating adventures to them, and they both have different suggestions for him.

Later in the evening, he comes back home and calls Mona to babysit his kids while he attends his new date.

The next day, he drops Hanna off at her friend Lexi’s and takes Solly to a library. Amidst all of the hassle, he keeps calling Rachel, but she doesn’t pick up her phone or answer his texts at all.

Rachel is supposed to pick Hanna and Lexi up, but she fails to make it, leaving Toby no option but to take them to his apartment for now.

Things go sideways when one of Toby’s dates shows up at his place and the kids freak out, leaving Toby to wonder where exactly Rachel is.

Libby observes Toby’s new start and takes a look at her life, which is quite different as she has become a housewife, although she wants to chase her dreams.

Episode 2 recap: Welcome to Paniquil

A glimpse into the past from Toby’s college days shows how Toby is blessed by a beggar to have a great life. It all turns out to be true, as he is a successful doctor now.

Back to the present, Toby requests Mona to spend another day with the kids since Rachel still hasn’t come back. Dr. Bartuck at the hospital invites Toby to his office and gives him a promotion.

All Toby wants is to treat his patients right, and that is his passion. He never looked at the money he was getting for doing his job. That’s one of the reasons his marriage with Rachel fell apart.

Rachel was just ambitious as he was. The only difference was that she desired a lavish life. She even tried to get Toby a better-paying job through one of their friends, and Toby hated that.

Toby comes back home to see a burned-out and disappointed Mona, who had to babysit his kids for another day. Mona leaves in rush and ignores everything Toby has to say.

He wonders what’s up with her because Rachel comes late all the time and Mona doesn’t act like that with her. Another individual who is not happy at all is Hannah, as Rachel had promised to take her to Hampton.

Toby finds a lot of adult sites on his computer and questions Solly. Like a good parent, he helps him understand what he wants to know.

He later texts Mona and fires her for not paying attention to his kids, only to realize that he is kicking out the most stable person in his kids’ lives.

Toby takes the kids to the hospital for the day. He also continues his attempts to get in touch with Rachel.

In order to be a good dad, he asks for a leave from the hospital and promises to come immediately if there is an emergency. He takes the kids to Hampton to keep Rachel’s promise. Then he drops Rachel off to Lexi and her friends.

After taking advice from Libby, Toby tries to track Rachel down through her bank account but then realizes that they had divested their shared accounts before the divorce.

The caretaker of Rachel’s house calls the cops on Toby as the house doesn’t belong to him anymore.

Toby’s quest to be a good father continues as he buys a phone for Hannah, something she has been asking for a while. Back at home, he prepares his kids for the camp, which reminds him of his argument with Rachel around the same topic.

During that fight, he had thrown food at her, ending the conversation right away. Anyway, he goes back to dating another woman and returns home to discover that Hannah is crying because Rachel won’t pick up her call either.

The next day, Toby fuels his kids with love and courage before sending them off to camp.

He meets his best friends in the park and tells them about this ‘Rachel’ situation. She has abandoned them before, but not for this long.

Libby questions what if something has really happened to her. Toby remembers how one night she came in drugged and passed out on the couch.

A concerned Toby leaves to treat a patient at the hospital. He feels dizzy and calls to check whether they really need him. Turns out, they don’t.

He then visits a grocery shop, where he crosses paths with a few mothers who suggest that they just saw Rachel napping in the park.

Review

  • The very first episode efficiently establishes the world around Toby Fleishman. It’s narrated in a way that is quite amusing.
  • The show really picks up at the climax of the premiere after detailing everything about Toby. On top of that, it gets addictive from that point on.
  • At the same time, it feels like Fleishman Is in Trouble circles around the same topic of failed marriages and how things wind up after that. The mystery element of where Rachel is saves the day over here.
  • Jesse Eisenberg is in a role that comforts him the most and he is certainly carrying the show on his shoulders for now. Things may change if there is a chance that we would see more of Libby, played by Lizzy Caplan, who is the narrator of the show.
Fleishman Is in Trouble season 1 episodes 1 & 2
Fleishman Is in Trouble season 1 episodes 1 & 2 recaps & review 1

Director: Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton, Alice Wu

Date Created: 2022-11-17 00:00

Editor's Rating:
3

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