Comedy
Peacemaker
Peacemaker is to superhero as ringworm is to earthworm. It might seem like these two things are related based on their names, but they aren’t.
Friends come and go, and life goes on. Take Sylvia and Will, for instance. At one point, they were the best of friends—until Will wanted to marry Audrey, whom Sylvia repeatedly told Will wouldn’t be good for him. And because it’s not easy to stay friends with someone who hates your wife, the two went their separate ways.
Now, Sylvia’s married as well, to Charlie. She’s got three wonderful children. And all those crazy antics she and Will once got into have faded away into her crazier, youth-filled days.
That was, of course, until Audrey posted on Instagram explaining that she and Will were getting a divorce. And Charlie tells Sylvia that she should reach out to comfort her old friend.
Sylvia, reluctantly, agrees.
That reluctancy comes from what everyone else—including her own inner voice—is telling her: that men and women don’t hang out together at her age anymore. And when they do, it quickly turns romantic.
The two of them, however, hope to prove everyone else wrong. Sure, they might get into some crazy antics once again, but they won’t cross any sexual boundaries.
But even if they never do, they’re still spending a lot of time together … and that might be an emotional boundary that’ll leave their other commitments feeling burnt.
Emotional boundaries become the theme of the show’s second season, too: Since reconnecting, Will and Sylvia have stayed true to their strictly friends-only commitment. Still, that doesn’t stop Charlie’s work friends from referring to Will as his “wife’s boyfriend.”
And their friendship likewise is causing a strain on Will’s upcoming marriage: He’s gotten engaged to his boss and CEO, Jenna, and they’ve signed Sylvia on to plan their wedding.
But while at his engagement party, Will admits to having second thoughts. Sylvia, close friend that she is, recognizes Will on the cusp of yet another self-destructive downward spiral. It isn’t long before she talks sense into him, but in their prolonged absence from the party, Jenna begins to feel that Sylvia is encroaching on her soon-to-be husband—at least, filling the role that she is meant to play.
It seems more boundaries will have to be defined.
Comedic actor Seth Rogen’s humor tends to be pretty basic. His most notable roles include lots of swearing and many references to sex and drug use. Platonic doesn’t deviate from that status quo.
Now, to the show’s credit, despite the on-brand style of humor, Platonic comes across as a bit more of a serious endeavor than many a Rogen performance before. The storyline is genuine, and the series explores the emotional impact previous long-standing friendships can have on current relationships—even if they don’t bring romantic undertones with them.
And while the show hasn’t yet had Rose Byrne and Rogen’s characters falling for each other, it has introduced us to the many other things they’ll do platonically together, including doing cocaine and having many discussions about sex. (And we do see a bit of onscreen covered sex between Sylvia and her husband as well as male rear nudity.) We also see a gay couple. And yes, harsh profanity is a given.
And those issues will make it hard for many viewers to be friends with this show.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
After finding out that Will is getting divorced, Sylvia decides to reach out in an attempt to reconnect with him.
Sylvia and Will discuss their respective sex lives. Sylvia tells Will that she dislikes how long sex with her husband lasts, and Will tells her a story of a woman who punched him in the kidney to cause him to orgasm. Later, Charlie and Sylvia begin to have sex under the covers, and we hear noises. Sylvia punches Charlie in the kidney in an attempt to finish having sex quicker.
Sylvia’s daughter asks if Will was Sylvia’s friend “with benefits.” (He wasn’t.) We hear many other references to sex. A man wears a long t-shirt with no pants. Will’s ex-wife, Audrey, wears an outfit that displays her cleavage. Will admits that he had an affair while he was married to Audrey. Sylvia tells Will that he should be with someone else “just for fun” in order to get over his divorce. We hear a reference to a “tramp stamp.” We hear references to semen. Will jokes that Sylvia’s mother is a “working dominatrix.”
Will is a brewmaster at a bar. To that end, we see people drinking beer and wine. Sylvia is intoxicated through a portion of the episode. Sylvia and Will eat marijuana-infused gummies and get high.
Will shows an old photo of him wearing a Chai necklace, the Hebrew word for life.
Angry that Audrey brought her Norwegian boyfriend to his bar, Will baselessly accuses the man of being a Nazi and hating Jewish people. A woman explains how her tattoo is a memorial for her boyfriend who had been murdered.
The f-word is used nearly 30 times, and the s-word is used nine times. We also hear the p-word used three times. Characters use “a–” and “b–ch,” too. God’s name is used in vain 11 times, including once in the form of “g-dd–n.” Jesus’ name is used in vain three times. Someone displays her middle finger.
Will admits to Sylvia that he’s got a crush on another woman, and Sylvia recognizes his admission as the start of another self-destructive cycle. As the two work to replace the champagne at Will’s engagement party, Sylvia offers advice to break Will out of that spiral.
We see a man’s naked rear. Sylvia and Charlie kiss, and they plan to become intimate before they are interrupted. We see a man in his shirt and boxers. Sylvia complains about not wearing a sports bra when Will’s car hits a pot hole. Sylvia worries that buying a minivan will mark her as “asexual,” and so she recruits Will to help her find a “sexy” car. A woman jokes with Sylvia that she hopes Sylvia’s boss gets fired for sexual harassment. Someone tells another person to “grow a pair.” Will tells Sylvia to “keep it in your pants.”
Will alleges that a man cannibalized another man in Korea.
Two men admit to being on drugs. One of them also admits to drugging a champagne flute and misplacing it, which threatens to drug innocent engagement party goers with acid. Will and Slyvia spend much of the episode tracking down new bottles of champagne. Will attempts to discern which employee in a store is the most “stoned.”
To get the audience to dump out their champagne, Will and Sylvia claim that they want to honor an “old Jewish tradition” that involves pouring out their drinks to those who have come before, “lest our Jew god be vengeful.”
Will and Sylvia steal another customer’s champagne order. Will also damages a passing delivery robot for no reason.
We hear the f-word nearly 35 times, including one use of the abbreviated version “mofo.” We also hear the s-word seven times and a crude word for male genitalia once. “B–ch,” “h—” and “buttload” are used once each, too. God’s name is taken in vain 13 times, and Jesus’ name is likewise misused once.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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