‘It Gets Worse’ Paramount+ Series Review: Leo Reich’s Gen Z Comedy Finds Charm in Twentysomething Misery

Ethan has had one of the easiest lives in recorded human history,” says the voice-over (courtesy of Zadie Smith) that accompanies the six episodes of the first season of It Gets Worse. And yet, from Ethan’s (Leo Reich, who also created the series) perspective, things don’t seem particularly easy. He has no job, no partner and, worse still, one of the friends he shares a flat with has decided to move in with her boyfriend, leaving the other two to fend for themselves financially. It’s not exactly a catastrophe, since Ethan could always go back to his parents’ house, but to him, the prospect of returning there feels almost tragic.

It Gets Worse revolves around the lives of three 24-year-old friends who already seem convinced that life can only get worse from here on. They assume it, say it, even write it down. They live in London, get by on very little, have a few friends and go from one party to another (always too crowded, too boring or full of people they’d rather not run into). On paper, they don’t seem to have any major problems. But that’s not how they experience things. Romantic complications and difficulties in their personal relationships make them uncomfortable, sometimes even overwhelmed. The series follows the way their relationships and feelings evolve over a relatively short period of time.

Ethan leads a life that is somewhere between irresponsible and carefree. He’s a gay young man who’s emotionally all over the place, yet goes through life seemingly unaware of what’s happening or of the impact he has on those around him. He has, for instance, punched a hole in the bedroom wall, meaning they’ll lose their apartment deposit, and would rather forfeit the money than bother fixing it. At one point, he reveals that he once considered suicide but couldn’t be bothered to go all over town trying to find the pills to do it.

He’s not the only one wrapped up in his own little world. Abi (Emily Fairn) has a poorly paid job, seems deeply insecure about just about everything and is constantly checking what she and other people post on Insta. She’s dating Tom (Sean Delaney) and decides to move in with him, despite being puzzled by her boyfriend’s rather low sex drive. The third member of this friendship triangle is Sam (Olive Gray): a Black lesbian, neurotic in some people’s eyes, passive-aggressive in others’. She works as a tutor to a somewhat incel-ish teenager, writes on the side and, although she initially seems the most grounded of the three, it soon becomes clear that she’s not quite as together as she appears.

It Gets Worse is a funny series about members of Gen Z navigating the first few years of post-university life in a demanding city like London. The breakup of their living arrangement sends Sam to a sort of anarchist commune in a big old house that turns out to be considerably less laid-back than it claims to be. Ethan, meanwhile, drifts from one place to another because his divorced mother not only has a tenant living in his old bedroom but has also put the family home up for sale so she can move to Kent. «Everyone I know in London has been stabbed,» she tells him.

Sex, romance, arguments, parties and funerals make up the social calendar of this group, whose relationships grow increasingly strained as their living arrangements change and other conflicts and misunderstandings pile up. Ethan develops a crush on a guy who seems to be checking him out, though he can’t tell whether he’s gay or not. Sam gets involved with two women in what some of them consider a polyamorous relationship and others decidedly do not. Abi keeps trying to figure out how to build the life she wants — with a partner, a home and their «small-portion meals» — despite the lack of chemistry between her and Tom.

A few familiar faces pop up in supporting roles. Andrew Scott plays a combination of therapist and potential sexual conquest (you’ll see how that works out), Lena Dunham is Abi’s thoroughly irritating boss, and comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg appears as an old acquaintance of hers. It Gets Worse occasionally runs the risk of becoming downright annoying, as its characters can be more irritating and immature than anything else, constantly creating unnecessary tension in their relationships. But the discomfort they generate — also a longstanding tradition of British comedy — is part of the point of watching them grow up. The series may be about seeing things get progressively worse for its characters, but it also allows us to recognize how they’re gradually developing better tools to deal with whatever life throws at them.