This post contains spoilers from Your Friends and Neighbors from this point forward.
When you press play on Your Friends and Neighbors, you're probably not expecting to be greeted by a murder scene in the very first few seconds. But that's exactly what happens as Andrew "Coop" Cooper (Jon Hamm) wakes up in a pool of someone else's blood on the foyer of a mansion. There's a lifeless body beside him and he quickly attempts to clean up a bit to no avail before darting out of the house. Outdoor lights flick on, scaring him right into the pool where he reflects on what got him here.
Following the opening sequence that's reminiscent of The Mindy Project's pilot episode, we're brought back to four months earlier, long before that bloody death ever occurred. Nothing in Coop's life is going well. He lost his job after his boss Jack Bailey (Corbin Bernsen) fired him over a fake complaint from Liv Cross (Kitty Hawthorne), who he slept with. Before that, his wife Mel (Amanda Peet) cheated on him with his former best friend Nick Brandes (Mark Tallman), leading to a divorce, leaving his own home, and a strained relationship with his teenage daughter and son.
Coop tries to make the best of the situation by picking up his son Hunter (Donovan Colan) from school on a day that isn't his usual visitation day and taking him out for ice cream. When he drops him off at home, Coop and Mel lightly argue about the past before Mel informs him that Hunter needs a new drum kit and their daughter Tori (Isabel Gravitt) needs money for a dermatology procedure. The bills pile up when 17-year-old Tori's 20-year-old boyfriend Jake (Daniel Dale) runs into his car. Before leaving, Coop endures a dinner invite from Nick. Yeah, he's having a bad day.
Why Coop decides to steal from the rich
After having sex with Samantha (Olivia Munn), who happens to be a friend of his family's, she leaves abruptly because of his consistent awkwardness about becoming more. They have been hooking up for over a year, but could they actually be anything more than what they were given the makeup of their social standings? Coop strikes out again and again with prospective new job opportunities. He talks with his friend and business manager Barney (Hoon Lee) about the possibility of not working for a year. Barney suggests suing Jack since he can't last more than six months on his savings.
During a neighborhood barbecue, Coop has a little too much to drink. Mel and Nick are there, Sam's there, everyone they know is there. Coop and Mel chat and a friend commends them for having a "friendly divorce," which causes Coop to make a bit of a scene before excusing himself inside the house to use the bathroom. Aside from wait staff, the house is mostly empty and Coop looks around the movie theater, upstairs, the master bedroom, and the large walk-in closet. In a drawer, he finds watches and rolls upon rolls of hundred dollar bills. He pockets one of the rolls.
Using the roll of hundreds, Coop buys Hunter a new drum kit. When he delivers the new drums to the family he walks in on Jake naked and Tori undressed. Coop loses his mind and, as promised earlier, punches Jake in the groin. On top of everything, Coop also has to pick up his sister Ali (Lena Hall) from the front lawn of her ex's house, where she's singing Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" on her acoustic guitar. She didn't take her medication because she wanted to feel something.
Later, Coop talks with Liv to offer an apology and if she could take back her complaint, but she's surprised. She didn't file a complaint. Coop confronts Jack, but there's nothing he can do to get his accounts back. After playing Hunter's drums at his house, Coop returns to the Millers' home when they leave for vacation. He enters through the unlocked doors (it's a safe neighborhood) and heads upstairs to steal a watch and more money. The doorbells rings, but Coop successfully pretends he's the owner to the curious cops. Victorious, Coop takes a bottle of liquor and a cigar and watches a movie in the theater room. He's set up the perfect, albeit temporary, scheme for money.
Your Friends and Neighbors episode 1 review
In the final seconds of Your Friends and Neighbors season 1 episode 1, Coop asks in narration, "What's the worst that could happen?" Obviously, it's an apparent irony given the bloody mess that opened the episode. Coop's situation will continue to worsen and get more complicated in ways that he didn't expect when he began his pickpocketing of his wealthy neighbors. He sees it as an innocent crime, the Dexter of robbery, but what goes around always comes around.
After only one episode, I'm sold and locked in with Your Friends and Neighbors. Jon Hamm makes for a charming and oddly likable lead as Coop, a rich oaf riddled with self-pity. We shouldn't particularly like Coop, but he's funny and, even for a guy with tons of privilege, he had a lot of unfortunate things happen to him. Because he's so angry and has nothing else to lose, it's somewhat exciting to join him on this rollercoaster ride of fury. Like, yes, make all the wrong choices, friend!
So far, Your Friends and Neighbors feels less like the slow and drippy prestige dramas that can often clog up our streaming watch lists and more like a bouncy and much lighter summer romp a la the USA Network (and I mean that as the highest compliment). The show can be dark, but it's also unbelievably fun, bitingly sarcastic, and just soapy enough. Thankfully, Apple has already renewed the show for season 2, so we can buckle up and prepare for the long haul with Coop.
Watch Your Friends and Neighbors only on Apple TV+.