Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Crashing is streaming on Netflix.

While many of us know writer, creator and actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge only through her runaway hit show Fleabag, she has been working in the entertainment industry for a while now. Not only did she co-create and write the first successful season of detective show Killing Eve, Phoebe is also credited with writing the 2014 British show Drifters among other projects. However, she really came into her own with the Channel 4 series Crashing. Phoebe created, wrote and acted in the series, which released in 2016.

How the story runs

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is Lulu. Lulu wants to surprise her best friend Anthony, but she decides to stay over when Anthony’s girlfriend invites her to share a room at their place. The said place is an abandoned hospital which Anthony and his partner share with four other people as property guardians to save money. Chaos ensues when Lulu becomes the new tenant, and we quickly see a love triangle emerging between Lulu, Anthony and his partner. And while the narrative is primarily about Lulu and Anthony’s relationship, the makers also shed light on other cast members and their dynamics. The running connection between all the six main characters are that they are quite lost in life and it is their responses to the ever-changing situations around them, that makes Crashing so watchable.

Predictable, yes. Boring? Not at all!

So you say, two best friends fall for each other. What’s new about that? Nothing, but what is refreshing in Crashing is that is not the only bond it focuses on. There are at least four other eccentric people who have their own stuff going on — an overtly sexual Sam who refuses to accept he might be gay, Anthony’s girlfriend Kate who finds it hard to ‘go with the flow,’ the curious artist Melody, and the awkward but heartbroken Colin. It is an eclectic mix of people who have solidly developed backstories. And somehow all these characters’ lives sync perfectly with the overarching themes of the show — acceptance and growth. It, of course, helps that Crashing is also hilarious and well-acted.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays the complicated but hilarious Lulu in Crashing.

A day is all you need

Crashing has six episodes, each spanning around 20-25 minutes. And to say that it is a sweet, engaging story of six adults coming to terms with life would be putting it too simplistically. Let us just say, once you begin, you won’t be able to stop until you have watched them all!

Crashing is streaming on Netflix.