If You Haven't Watched 'Normal People,' Please Do Yourself A Favor

Who hasn’t been looking for a new show to watch these days? I feel like we are going through Netflix series and movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s like water in this house.

Honestly, the honeymoon of searching for things to watch has worn off, and I’m tired of looking for things to do to entertain myself. So, when a friend recommended I watch Normal People, based on Sally Rooney’s best-selling book of the same name, on Hulu, I was in. I should also tell you (because I was warned myself), that my friend sobbed for days when it was over. I decided I needed that kind of emotion in my life and it was worth the Hulu subscription that I didn’t have.

I wasn’t wrong.

I finished the Hulu series in two days, but easily could have done it in one. I was out of Kleenex though, and after my friend’s review, I wanted to be prepared. I’m glad I waited.

Normal People takes place in a small town in Ireland. That pulls me in right away. Hello accents. Hello funky style. Hello rugby players and badass women.

While I don’t want to give too much away here, you need to know it’s about two high school students. Connell, the male lead, is popular and well liked. Marianne is a nobody who doesn’t run with his crowd and is often picked on.

She’s not afraid to shovel back what they give her, though, which is what I love about her. Connell loves it too, and the couple start a secret romance.

The series, which has twelve episodes and one season (so far), takes you through their college years and beyond.

Let me just say this: the show will pull you back to your teenage years and may take you places you don’t want to go. It brought up a lot of shit for me and I just went along for the hormone-induced ride.

I figured if I could survive the teenage years and all the love turmoil, I could watch this show, dammit.

If you’ve ever been in love as a teenager, this show is for you.

If you’ve ever felt like you would do anything for a lover, to the point you’ve left yourself, this show is for you.

If you’ve ever had such a deep misunderstanding with someone that it cost you a relationship and it took you a long time to recover, this show is for you.

If you’ve been off and on with someone, this show is for you.

This show does have full nudity sex scenes which are done beautifully and felt very real. I was comfortable enough to watch them with my fifteen-year-old daughter and explain to her that’s what sex with someone you care about pretty much looks like.

It also showed her what relationships shouldn’t look like.

There was nothing huge and thrilling that happened during this show, which is what made it so great. It was a very normal, natural love story that so many people have been through. Watching it makes you feel humanized, nostalgic, and feel compassion for the people you’ve hurt in your life.

While there isn’t a season 2 in the works yet, I can only hope — because after those twelve episodes, the only thing I thought about for a week was that show, and how that simply cannot be the ending.

If you are in the mood for a good cry, and for your brain to take a trip down teenage-lane, Normal People is the show to watch right now. Just be prepared to feel all the feelings and cry all the tears.