For more TV and movie recommendations, visit our Should I Watch It? hub page and sign up to our Should I Watch It? newsletter.
A word of warning: Feel Good, comedian Mae Martin's semi-autobiographical Netflix series, doesn't always do what it says on the tin.
Yes, there are deeply warming, satisfying moments, but they're rarely allowed to linger. And that's kind of the point.
Watch: Both seasons of Feel Good are available to stream on Netflix. Post continues below.
The British-based show, now in its second season, is about Mae's quest for satisfaction.
A recovering cocaine addict, Mae replaces drugs with the natural, oxytocin-driven high of love, diving headlong into a relationship with George (played by Charlotte Ritchie), a repressed London school teacher who has only ever previously dated men.
Their partnership is intense, endearing, frustrating, bitter, chaotic, with each contributing their own strengths and neuroses. As Mae puts it in the BAFTA-nominated first season, "She’s like a dangerous Mary Poppins, and I’m Bart Simpson."
It's in the second season that we gain a deeper understanding of the 'why' behind each of these people, particularly Mae who begins to confront a traumatic past and grapple with gender identity.
Come for the...
Lisa Kudrow cameo.
The former Friends star's talent is on full display as Mae's brittle, embattled mother, Linda.
Linda, an author who is working on an "extremely graphically violent novel", can trace Mae's neediness all the way back to the womb: "Why else would my body have expelled you four weeks premature? You were sapping my resources."
Stay for the...
- Exploration of addiction and PTSD, in all their complexity.
- Comedy, e.g. "Oh, I was born on the right side of the tracks," says Mae. "I would just visit the wrong side a lot because that's where all the drugs were."
- Sex positivity: think, a sexual role play montage involving (but not limited to) a moustachioed king, a plumber looking for payment and a dildo-wielding general physician.
How long is it?
Two seasons, with six episodes each. The eps are stunningly economical at 30 expertly-packed minutes.
So, should I watch it?
Please do. Particularly if you liked the laugh-then-gut-punch style of shows like Fleabag.
Feel Good is funny and complicated, and it stings sometimes. But isn't that just life?
Feel Good seasons one and two are available to stream in Australia on Netflix.
Feature image: Netflix/Mamamia.
Like a $50 gift voucher for your thoughts? For your chance, take our quick survey .