Cherish the Day: Basis

February 27, 2020 9:52 AM - Season 1, Episode 4

Evan has a stressful breakfast with Gently's uncles. Miss Luma is in on a scheme. Evan takes Gently for a hike and fancy dinner, only to find the two of them have different conceptions of time. Evan ignores the advice of a friend. Ava DuVernay's one-day-per-episode look at love between two black professionals in Los Angeles continues. Bonus video: DuVernay talks about how she achieved gender parity in the first season by making sure over 50% of the show's entire crew (not just writers and directors) are women.
posted by mediareport (2 comments total)

Another well-acted episode, although for the first time the "one day at a time" structure began to feel a bit forced. So much happens on this single day. We get to see Evan's emotional vulnerability along with his arrogance, which was rich and interesting, and saw more of Gently's overwhelming trust issues, which seemed to be resolved a little too easily via a quick talk with her father figure. Still, it's a smartly made romantic drama with a focus on (mostly) upper-middle class black life and deeply likeable characters, and I'm totally in for the last 2 episodes.

Apparently, if there's a Season 2 it will focus on a new couple in an "anthology series" format.
posted by mediareport at 10:01 AM on February 27, 2020

(Quick note: there are 4 more episodes after this one, not 2, for a total of 8.)
posted by mediareport at 7:39 AM on March 4, 2020