How to Die Alone Review 2024 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
How to Die Alone’s basic premise is ripe for comedy and conflict alike: a 35-year-old airport worker named Melissa (Rothwell) is ironically afraid of flying — along with many other things, like putting herself out there and being in love. This frequently causes tension with her family, including her more financially successful brother Brian (Bashir Salahuddin), who is married with kids, and occasionally her trust fund baby best friend Rory (Conrad Ricamora), with whom Melissa borders on co-dependent.
After Melissa suffers a freak accident involving a heavy piece of furniture and crab rangoon on her birthday, however, she finds herself sharing a hospital room with an inspiring woman named Elise (Jackie Richardson), who motivates her to start living her life to the fullest. Melissa has only a few months to get over her fears so she can get on a plane and tell her boss and ex-boyfriend Alex (Jocko Sims) that she still has feelings for him before he gets married to someone else.
Before we get too deep into discussing the show, let’s get one thing out of the way: How to Die Alone is undoubtedly a true comedy. That’s an important distinction nowadays when people are fighting over genre muddlers like The Bear and Barry. How to Die Alone serves up its fair share of drama (more on that later), but it leads with humor and absolutely nails it. It pays tribute to other shows — each episode starts with a street interview, similar to how Sex and the City did back in the day, and comparisons to workplace sitcoms like The Office, Parks and Rec, and Abbott Elementary are inevitable — but sets itself apart as its own thing.
It’s not a mockumentary, for one, staying firmly behind the fourth wall — a somewhat unusual break in structure for comedies in this day and age. The fact it’s streaming instead of airing on a traditional network also allows it to get a bit raunchier and more explicit. Though it never goes too far in that department (it doesn’t need to in order to evoke laughs), the fact the characters are allowed to curse does often make the jokes hit harder and the dialogue feel more natural.
The show taps into the zeitgeist in a multitude of ways, making it fresh and relevant. From parodying identifiable brands like IKEA and Weight Watchers to seamlessly and effectively incorporating trending TikTok music with songs like “One Margarita (Margarita Song)” and “Beans Greens Potatoes Tomatoes” for the Thanksgiving episode, How to Die Alone’s comedic sensibilities have their finger firmly on the pulse. The show also proves that you can actually make solid jokes about edgier, more serious topics like sexual harassment seminars without being offensive or disrespectful. (Take notes, all the comedians out there whining about the woke agenda and cancel culture.)
Natasha Rothwell has been criminally underrated for years, stealing scenes left and right in juicy supporting roles. It’s an absolute treat seeing her get well-deserved leading lady status, especially in a role this meaty. Melissa is a deeply imperfect yet highly relatable protagonist who’s easy to root for even when she’s making mistakes. The show doesn’t let her off the hook for her flaws, but it provides context for them that makes us empathize with her. Rothwell plays Melissa with a breathtaking vulnerability that is sure to bring tears to your eyes on more than one occasion. The show goes deep into how insecurity impacts every facet of your life, exploring the fact that change is messy, painful, and nonlinear. The way the show tackles body image feels particularly radical in its nuance and authentic in its empowerment — a far cry from the fat jokes that dominated the landscape just a decade or two ago.
Ever since Speechless saw Jimmy DiMeo (John Ross Bowie) working at the airport, I thought it seemed like a naturally rich place to center a comedy, and How to Die Alone proves me right. The show capitalizes on its setting in a multitude of ways. The first is, of course, the humor, satirizing the uniquely chaotic vibe and absurd situations that happen, from Melissa and Rory scouring obscure confiscated contraband and abandoned luggage to one of Rory’s flings being a TSA worker who proclaims that his job is “to humiliate people and tell them to get new socks.”
The second is that the airport is a hub for all kinds of people from all types of backgrounds. How to Die Alone’s cast is effortlessly diverse, with people of all races, sexualities, and body types represented — that’s simply how the real world looks, after all. This extends to the characters beyond the airport as well, showcasing a realistic New York City. There are a lot of supporting characters to juggle between Melissa’s co-workers, family, neighbors, and other friends — and sometimes, the show bites off a little more than it can chew, considering some of the key ensemble all but disappears for a few episodes at a time — but all of them are so entertaining and bring something so special, it would be a shame to get rid of any of them for the sake of tighter focus. Melissa’s world is fleshed out in a way that’s rare for a half-hour comedy and even rarer for a show that only has eight episodes in its season.
And what would a future classic comedy be without a love triangle and some inevitable shipping wars deliciously foreshadowed in the very first episode? The romantic aspects of How to Die Alone are compelling, presenting two excellent and wildly different options for Melissa. I won’t spoil who Alex’s competitor is here — you should watch the pilot and see if you can sense the early chemistry — but I will say they provide a metaphor about a Roomba that’s one of the best (not to mention the funniest) analogies I’ve heard in a while.
The title of How to Die Alone is beautifully ironic, as this show is all about learning to be brave enough to live your best life and open yourself up to connection. At its core, it’s about how loving yourself goes hand-in-hand with the power of community. It’s not a stretch to say How to Die Alone is one of the most joyful, honest, and hopeful shows of the year. It’s also the type of heartwarming series we could use more of now and always. May it go on for many more seasons.
