When it comes to talking about streaming services, Hulu is hardly ever the first (or even second) to be mentioned. I’m mostly guilty of having ignored it over the past few years as well, with the exception of binging old episodes of “House Hunters” and watching their series “Shrill,” starring Aidy Bryant. But as I was scrolling through during the Thanksgiving weekend to see what they offered, I kept being told to watch “Dollface.”
“Dollface” is a new series from Hulu starring Kat Dennings, Brenda Song, Shay Mitchell and Esther Povitsky. The plot follows Jules (Dennings) as her boyfriend of several years breaks up with her and she has to attempt to reconnect with the women she left behind. It’s a fairly relatable story, as anyone who’s been in a lengthy relationship (or knows someone who has) knows how easy it is to lose touch with friends. I like the actors involved, so I decided to click on it, expecting a simple, girl-power comedy.
I can’t be happier to report that this show is so much more than what I thought it would be. It is absolutely full of moments of friendship between women that will charm you, and it has made me laugh out loud on several occasions. But it also is incredibly weird, with satire including a bus ride full of women grieving over relationships on their way back to the station where their friends are literally waiting for them — in the first half of the first episode! There’s also a black-and-white train car scene in a later episode, and an episode in which Madison (Song) is trying to prove that Stella’s (Mitchell) date is a literal murderer while everyone is dressed for a Santa-themed bar crawl. There is a whole “Wizard of Oz”-themed episode about a pair of shoes, a la Dorothy’s red slippers, that also takes the women of the show to the Women’s March.
I think one of the great gifts this decade was CW believing in Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna’s vision for “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” That show, too, was strange: an hour-long musical comedy that covered topics from mental illness to abortion to finding your true passions. But it got its full four-season arc, despite its small audience. “Dollface” is almost a spiritual successor to “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” down to the title being a condescending term for a woman. Plus it has not only Povitsky, who was great as Maya on the CW show and who is great as Other Alison B./Izzy on the Hulu series, but also Vella Lovell, who had such a fun character arc on “CXG” and does the most with her screen time in “Dollface.”
That brings me to another point, as both Povitsky and Lovell play coworkers of Dennings’s character: Their workplace is a Goop-esque enterprise called Woöm, which is run by a New Age-y blonde woman named Celeste (Malin Akerman). Now, Akerman has been great in a lot of things, including horror-comedy “The Final Girls,” but she is so perfect in this role, simultaneously fascinating, horrible and almost sympathetic.
I’d prefer not to give away too much regarding “Dollface,” because the reveals are a lot of fun on their own, as are the jokes. But trust me: You should be watching it.
Have you already seen “Dollface”? Let us know your favorite moments in the comments, or on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Featured image credit: Hulu
Originally hailing from Pennsylvania, Jackie has called Austin home since choosing to attend the University of Texas, where she graduated with a degree in multimedia journalism. She loves spending time with her dogs, writing about pop culture in all its forms and spending time with friends – eating, drinking and doing trivia.