Binge on This - Living With Yourself: So Bad, It's Actually Quite Good

Hahaha, I know! With a title like this I'm sure most of you can relate to at least one show from the plethora of bad TV series. However, if I thought a series was actually bad, I would not even mention it, let alone take it up into my Binge on This blog series. However, Living With Yourself turned out to be, in spite of my initial reservation, actually enjoyable, though probably not for the right reasons... But does anyone care? The series appeared on Netflix in 2019, with only one season of merely eight half-an-hour episodes, which again does not really speak in its favor.

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A (Stereo)Typical Cloning Story

A quick glance at the show's summary would have been enough to move on and never think about it again: A mysterious treatment promising self-improvement results in being replaced by one's clone. EXCUSE ME??? Are we stuck in the 80's? I remember the typical trash flicks from that are, where human clones just pop into existence, resemble their original up to their haircut and clothing style, and are always driven by some unexplained evil intent. To be on the safe side, I would probably still give the series a chance, but I won't lie to you here: Living With Yourself actually makes use of these themes (except for the evil intent, which I honestly believe is a redeeming factor.)

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So what got me to actually sit down and watch the entire series (despite its extremely short span) from beginning to end? Well, getting paid for it did the trick! It was one of my English students who suggested this show, not for its superb quality (as he was also aware of its many shortcomings) but for its easy language. I'm still not sure if I agree on that latter aspect, but in the end it gave us a lot of discussion material, and that's really the main objective. Looking back at it, however, I can't help but notice that it may not have been all that bad after all.

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Becoming a Better Version of Yourself

The protagonist of the story is Miles, a very average Joe Schmoe character, with some disturbingly depressive tendencies: He has a decent looking job, which he doesn't seem happy with, nor even good at. Keeping up with the minimum requirements seems to be an impossible task for him. At home he has a gorgeous, successful partner, whom he doesn't seem to appreciate either. His general unhappiness and unkempt appearance further suggest depressive traits.

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To improve "himself", Miles follows a friend's recommendation to a mysterious spa, where he undergoes some unspecified treatment. We later find out, that they cloned him (including all his memories), plus his clone went through instant maturation. To keep the two identical Miles' from running into each other, the original one would have been killed off. But thanks to an error in the procedure he survived, the two met up, and the story went from there.

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And Now About All the Good Parts

So, have I managed to scare you away yet? If I had read this same plot description from my previous paragraph, I would probably be certain not to watch this series. I mean, even I have my limits! But now I just have to laugh, realizing that I am going to recommend it still! Since I had to prepare to discuss each episodes in all its details, I kept noticing things that made the show actually quite good. Let me see if I can sum it all up.

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• New Miles's Lust for Life This is probably the single best thing about this series: to see how a formerly depressive character enjoys his first breath of fresh air, the taste of an apple, the sight of his girlfriend... all while the original version of himself is watching from the sidelines, grappling with jealousy, is simply priceless.
• The Dual Perspective I really liked how each episodes starts out with repeating the end of the previous one, only from the perspective of the other Miles. This way the viewer can empathize with both, and become confronted with the ultimate paradox of resolving the situation.
• The Musical Score This is one more thing that I kept noticing throughout the show: the electronic music backing up certain scenes was simply... perfect. I don't know if this is just my own weird taste, but I preferred this type of musical score to the orchestral arrangements that is more typical for film.

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How About You?

Well, it seems like that's all I have to say about Living With Yourself. Not so much after all. Though I have my reasons for recommending it, I still don't consider it an overwhelming success. Especially the unresolved finish without a subsequent second season was a bit of a letdown. So at this point I would be curious to know how you feel about this series. Have you even heard of it? If so, did it take you a lot to bring yourself to watching it? And for those (few I believe) who have actually finished it: what did you think? Let me know in the comments! For everyone else, here is the trailer:

Take a Look at the Previous Posts in my Binge On This Series:

Episodes: British Humor About an American Sitcom
Peaky Blinders: Thug Life in 1920's Birmingham
Sense8: The Most Colorful Ensemble Cast
StartUp: Not For Learning About Crypto!
Chernobyl: An Apocalyptic Documentary
The Handmaid's Tale: A Not Too-Far-Off Dystopia
Twin Peaks: The Return - The Series Closing After 25 Years
Silicon Valley: Humor from the World of Tech and Money
Dark: Intense Time-Travel for Germanophiles
Twin Peaks: The Show That Changed Everything
The Man In the High Castle: What if the Nazis Had Won?
Lost: Mystery With Addictive Potential
Babylon Berlin: Sociopolitical Tremmors in the Weimar Republic
Rome: A Realistic Sandal Series
Carnivàle: A Throw-back to the Thirties
Weeds: The Hillarious Alternative to Breaking Bad
Mr. Robot: Hackers, Freedom, and Mental Issues
Das Boot: A Real German WWII Series
Black Sails: Pirate Lore Galore
Twelve Monkeys: Time Travel and Pandemic
The DocsMX 2020 Film Festival