Hulu’s Up Here is about finding yourself, in all your quirky oddity. It seems fitting, therefore, that Up Here 1×01 “Lindsay” feels like the series is trying to find itself. It isn’t a bad episode, but it feels like things aren’t quite clicking for the show just yet. The potential is there, however, and it does have a lot working for it.
While Up Here will be about two characters, Lindsay (Mae Whitman) and Miguel (Carlos Valdes), the first episode is without a doubt more about the former. We get introduced to her first through flashbacks, seeing not just a painfully awkward incident at school but the voices that have apparently plagued her for her entire life.
With voices only she can hear, it’s really no wonder that she starts the series trying desperately hard to pretend to be someone she isn’t. To pretend happiness in a relationship that frankly isn’t working for her. (Though her ex-boyfriend’s over-the-top Mr. Rogers earnestness would be a trial for anyone to take, I expect.) Her boyfriend sees her a certain way, and so she pretends to be that person for him. For his benefit, she pretends they wake up at the same time. She eats the same lunch every day. She acts like it’s romantic and not absurdly creepy how committed he is to the two of them chewing their food at the same time.
It’s clearly exhausting, and it’s only when she gets a glimpse of a chance to pursue a long-forgotten dream that she starts to let the mask slip. She wants more from the life than pretending to be something she isn’t. Mostly, she wants to find herself.
The musical numbers that pepper through the episode are…okay. They’re not bad, but you won’t likely find yourself humming them an hour later. But Whitman makes the most of everything she’s given. She’s endearing, even at her most awkward and anti-social. At times, she’s even charming. I don’t know that her chemistry with Valdes is a forest fire from the very beginning, but there are definitely sparks. You can see why he’d be charmed by her. And, more than he was typically allowed on The Flash, Valdes easily sells why she’d be instantly charmed by him.
As one might expect from a first episode (particularly one that only lasts a half hour), “Lindsay” is mostly set-up. We get to know a little more about the voices in her head, with their distinct personalities. Through her eyes, we get to see who she was, who she is, and even a little of who she wants to be. She struggles to be true about herself even as she’s trying to be true to herself, and, honestly, it makes sense why she would be. “I hear voices” is one of those things that can easily (unfortunately) be misunderstood.
For Lindsay, Miguel represents a future that’s different than her past. She doesn’t have to be the sad girl holding down the couch every night. She can be funny and charming and…not hear voices. As it happens, however, he isn’t as different as she thinks. He hears voices of his own, which cause him to rather precipitously put an end to an intimate moment. Since she can’t possibly understand the cause for his hasty departure, one can only imagine how he’s going to redeem himself in her eyes.
Up Here 1×01 “Lindsay” isn’t a fantastic episode, but it is a solid one to start off the series. It gives us insight into the titular character, as the second episode will likely do for Miguel. With only eight episodes to the season, however, here’s hoping that’s enough to fully buy in to their love story.
I’m curious to see where the story goes, at least, and that’s a start.
