Platonic season 1 episodes 1, 2 & 3 recaps & review

The first three episodes of Platonic follow former best friends Sylvia and Will, who reconnect after ages once the latter divorces his wife. The episodes are now streaming on Apple TV+.

Episode 1 recap: Pilot

While Sylvia’s family is busy arguing about what movie they should watch, she learns that her former best friend, Will, is finally getting a divorce. Will’s ex-wife, Audrey, has posted the news on Instagram.

Sylvia’s kids start questioning exactly who Will was. To shut them up, Sylvia allows them to watch the movies they like on their own devices. Sylvia’s husband, Charlie, suggests that she should meet Will.

Sylvia wonders if it’s even a good idea. They parted ways on the worst terms. Sylvia and Audrey hated each other. Sylvia had told Will that Audrey is terrible for him. Charlie says that this seems to have turned out to be true.

Sylvia still isn’t sure if it’s really good to hang out with a friend in middle age; a lot has changed for sure since they both got married. Charlie believes Sylvia and Will’s friendship is older than that, and friends should be there for each other.

Sylvia then decides to meet Will. She invites him for a coffee, and their first meeting in ages is more awkward than ever. Sylvia acts like she doesn’t know about his divorce. She reluctantly confesses that she quit practicing law in favor of taking care of her three kids.

The magic of their friendship seemed to be lost. They end their meeting with Will inviting Sylvia to a party at his bar. Back at his bar, Will tells his friends, Andy, Omar, and Reggie, who is also the stepbrother of Audrey, about this meeting.

Will’s friends like to think that he can’t be friends with a girl, and there must be a reason Sylvia has come back now that Audrey is out of the picture. Will tells them that she is a mother of three and she won’t be coming to the party; he just invited her to be polite.

Meanwhile, Sylvia discusses this meeting with her friend, Katie, who says that they should go to this party. This could be the last one they will enjoy because men don’t look at them the way they used to now that they are old.

Sylvia and Katie show up at the party and meet Will. Andy is a bit hostile toward Sylvia. Once Sylvia and Katie realize that this party is not for them, they leave.

Outside, they see Will fighting with Audrey, who has brought her boyfriend to the party. Sylvia thinks she should stay for her friend. She does, and the two hang out at another bar together, where they finally rekindle their old magic.

The duo goes on an adventure. First, Sylvia tries to hook Will up with someone. Will lets her know that things have changed. He is not that appealing anymore. When Sylvia shows him an old picture of his, he spots his golden chai necklace. He thinks his life went downhill after losing that necklace.

Sylvia and Will go to a pawn show to buy Will a new necklace. Will loves one that is on a dog’s collar. They buy that chain but are forced to run away from that dog, who comes chasing after them once they get their hands on it.

At a diner, they discuss each other’s sex lives. The night ends for them when Will learns that Sylvia approached him after finding out that he has divorced Audrey. The two argue and part ways again.

However, at night, Sylvia tries a trick Will suggested while getting intimate with Charlie. It doesn’t work. She texts him, and their conversation restarts.

Episode 2 recap: Gandalf the Lizard

Sylvia’s family runs on a timetable. Each one of them is allowed to spend only five minutes in the bathroom so that they can go to their individual places on time.

Charlie and Sylvia are planning to move into a bigger house, which will have five different bathrooms for all the family members. To do that, Sylvia is meeting a realtor named Diane today. Diane has shown 40 different homes to Sylvia, and she has liked none of them so far.

Amidst Sylvia’s routine life, Will calls her just to hang out with her. He even has a reason to do so. Sylvia forgot her credit card at his bar. Sylvia dismisses him for yelling at her last night.

Anyhow, Will comes directly knocking at her door. He helps her out with her commode, and the two go together to look for a new house for Sylvia’s family. On their way, Will mentions that he still goes to Audrey’s to pick up his stuff from time to time.

Will also reveals that Audrey has his pet lizard, Gandalf. Sylvia says it’s hard to recover from divorce if their lives are still entwined with each other. Sylvia wonders if they are doing this to keep in touch with each other. Will admits that their arguments do lead to something.

Will and Sylvia meet Diane, and she shows Sylvia the house, which used to be an assisted living facility. Nothing about this house feels warm; the place is a mess, and it is going to cost Sylvia and Charlie a lot just to renovate it.

Sylvia is adamant, as her family does need a bigger house. She agrees to not buy this place if Will goes back to Audrey and picks up all of his stuff once and for all. They both make a deal.

Will and Sylvia break into Audrey’s house, assuming that she is not home, as no one has answered the door. It turns out that she is. Audrey finally confesses why she set boundaries between Will and Sylvia.

They had a destructive relationship back then. The time Sylvia was supposed to spend with her man, she was spending with Will. She often came between them. Sylvia and Will don’t agree with Audrey’s assessment.

They are thrown out of the house, but Sylvia manages to steal Gandalf from Audrey. Will later reveals that he really doesn’t have what it takes to care for Gandalf. He convinces Sylvia to keep Gandalf and nurture him. If not Sylvia, at least her kids love Gandalf.

Episode 3 recap: Partner’s Retreat

Sylvia and Charlie arrive at an event organized by their law firm. Charlie is becoming a partner at the firm. Sylvia is forced to keep a smile on her face and greet everyone, including the likes of Frank Schaeffer, who has met Sylvia many times but always forgets her name.

Charlie believes this happens because Frank is successful. Frank forgets Sylvia’s name again, and somehow he remembers the name of a waiter who served him three years ago.

The day gets worse for Sylvia when she learns Vanessa, who went to law school with her, is now becoming a partner at this very firm. She has a thriving career despite having four kids.

Vanessa represents everything Sylvia could have been if she hadn’t quit. Sylvia wonders why Charlie didn’t tell her that Vanessa is also becoming a partner.

To cheer herself up, she calls Will, who is up arguing with Reggie regarding a business idea. Reggie pitches that they should collaborate with Johnny 66. He has even invited the CEO of Johnny 66 to their bar.

Will is against this because he thinks both of these brands stand for something different. At this point, Reggie is only trying to make money. A frustrated Will meets Sylvia, who convinces him to visit Johnny 66 once.

They buy Johnny 66 merchandise and have a good time at this restaurant. Unfortunately, Will is still not impressed. Back at Will’s bar, even his best friend, Andy, is ready to collaborate with Johnny 66.

Andy suspects that Will is trying to avoid this deal because Reggie brought it, who is Audrey’s stepbrother. The friends fight, and Will leaves after clarifying that he just hates Reggie and that this has nothing to do with Audrey being his step-sister.

Will joins Sylvia on her way to the hotel. Hanging out with Will has changed Sylvia. When Frank mistakes her for a waitress, she confronts him, takes his speech away, and says she will only give him his speech back if he guesses her name correctly.

Franks gets three guesses, but he fails to get the name right, leading Sylvia to eat the page his speech is on. Charlie is mad because he will have to make up for all of this.

Sylvia reveals that she is upset because Charlie didn’t tell her about Vanessa. Charlie confesses that he kept this secret because he knew how Sylvia would react. Charlie and Sylvia argue, and the latter doesn’t feel like joining him for Frank’s speech.

Will encourages her to do so because she should not miss what Frank is going to say without his speech. Sylvia joins Charlie for Frank’s very awkward speech. For the first time, Frank remembers Sylvia’s name when she greets him.

Meanwhile, Will sees Audrey enjoying herself with her new boyfriend on Instagram. This sees Will going back to the bar and agreeing to collaborate with Johnny 66.

Review

• Platonic doesn’t really bring a fresh story to the table, but it’s the writing and the chemistry between Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne that makes the show an enjoyable treat to watch.
• With its writing, Platonic manages to portray how life can be in the 40s and the lives of Sylvia and Will makes one want to live in the moment. One starts fearing how time goes by so fast after watching Will and Sylvia.
• Will and Sylvia are crazier than usual when they are together, and no wonder Audrey had to set boundaries. So far, from Will and Sylvia’s and the viewer’s points of view, the relationship looks innocent.
• Out of the first three episodes, only the second one felt a bit formulaic. It used good old sitcom tropes to shape its story.

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