Uncoupled: A full season review

Neil Patrick Harris is back on the small screen in an eight-episode gay Netflix production called Uncoupled. Created by Darren Star (Sex and the City) and Jeffrey Richman (Modern Family), the show features a widely diverse and talented cast that depicts a version of what gay life is like for middle-aged men in Manhattan. 

New York City is depicted in a manner reminiscent of other Darren Star productions. Uncoupled paints a side of the city that almost feels like fiction itself. Like Star’s version of New York in Sex and the City, the characters in this show all live exuberant lives that not too many real New Yorkers actually get to experience (hello Carrie Bradshaw, we’re looking at you). The city almost becomes this fairy tale, idyllic character all of its own. The real nuts and bolts of New York City are nowhere to be found in this show.

As Uncoupled begins, Michael (Neil Patrick Harris) finds himself suddenly single after spending seventeen very monogamous years with Colin (Tuc Watkins). On the evening of his 50th birthday party (which is a surprise that Michael organized for his man), Colin moves out of the apartment they own together (yes, they own New York City real estate) and breaks the news that he is leaving Michael as they’re about to enter the party. 

Colin swears that there isn’t anyone else but doesn’t give a reason as to why he wants to break up. Michael is painstakingly baffled, and everyone around him is perplexed – heck, we were perplexed. So Michael, with no other choice in front of him, moves through his upcoming days alone, single, without ever knowing why. 

With Colin gone, Michael finds himself in despair – however temporary this state may be. Surrounded by the love and support of his friends – a couple of gay guys and a dedicated straight female bestie – Michael suddenly finds himself staring down the barrel of the New York City gay dating scene in his forties. 

He dives in relatively quickly, except dating for the gays has changed quite a bit since the last time Michael did this. Now he has to contend with things like Grindr, prep, d*ck pics, botoxed anuses, and boy, was Michael not ready for any of that. 

The eight episodes serve sort of like a diary for Michael’s various stages of grief. At first, he is clearly shocked by Colin’s actions. Michael had no clue that Colin had checked out of their relationship at all. He moves into the land of desperation pretty quickly and jumps at the chance to go with couples therapy, which doesn’t actually go all that well (what a shock). 

Suzanne (Tisha Campbell), Michael’s straight bestie, sees Colin moving into his new apartment with the assistance of a very young, attractive coworker of Michael’s. Suzanne does what anyone in her situation would do and jumps to all the “new boyfriend” conclusions. 

When Suzanne tells Michael what she knows, he wades into the pool of anger for quite some time. He lashes out at Colin, at his buddy Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas) (although we’re pretty sure Stanley deserved it just a little, at least initially), but eventually arrives at the field of acceptance that he and Colin are over when yet another curve ball is thrown his way. 

We’re not going to tell you how the season ends, but SPOILER ALERT… we totally saw it coming. 

Here’s the thing about Uncoupled. We saw a lot of it coming. While Michael and his pals are all likable dudes, even when they’re flawed and stumbling through their lives, the show has an air of predictability about it. There was definitely a formula at play here that audiences have seen in other sitcoms just like this one. 

With the exception of Michael, the queer characters that circulate around him are stereotypical archetypes that have existed in Western media since Hollywood started depicting queer people on screens. It definitely felt like we had met characters like these before. One friend has intense commitment issues and can’t settle down (he even takes the number of a waiter while he is on a date with another man), while the other feels he doesn’t fit the physical stereotype and is intensely lonely (and takes himself on sad dates all around the city because that’s what single, lonely men in New York do). The straight friend is, of course, the voice of reason. 

One of the creators of the show, Darren Star told Q+ Magazine on zoom this week that, “the show wasn’t done with an [queer] agenda. It was done because it’s characters we know and understand and want to write about.”

And while the show is definitely categorized as a gay comedy, it’s clear after watching Uncoupled, that the creators definitely left the queer agenda out of this story. 

Michael could be your brother, or your dad, or the dude that lives next door that just got dumped. He experiences all the feelings that one suffers through upon such an event taking place. He hurts, he wallows, and he tries to make sense of the world around him. He picks himself up and tries to move forward, and falls back down again when setbacks are placed in front of him.

This is cute comedy folks, so if you’re coming into Uncoupled with the idea that this is going to be groundbreaking, community-advancing queer television, then you might need to adjust your expectations. It is definitely not that. We do, however, expect audiences are going to enjoy Michael’s character a lot. Any straight folks who stumble onto the show are likely to find him adorable. We also expect that audiences will want to punch Colin when he attempts and fails, to eventually provide a reason why he walked away from seventeen years of love and stability. 

We do not expect any gays to hail this show as a revolutionary gift from the gay gods above. It’s straight-washed palatable gayness for the masses. 

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Uncoupled is an easy watch, with just eight episodes in total. Watch out for our interviews with cast members Tuc Watkins and Emerson Brooks, and show creators Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman.  All episodes of Uncoupled will be available to stream on Netflix on July 29, 2022. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!