Living with Yourself
Showrunner: Timothy Greenberg
Episodes: 8
I recently underwent a program where I sent a sample of my hair to a company for testing to try and figure out what my food allergies were. I was a little worried as the weeks went by and I still hadn’t heard from the company, and I began to wonder if that $28 special Groupon voucher was a con. Did I just fall for a medical version of an Algerian prince? But, sure enough, my results arrived in my junk mail and I could finally take a relaxed breath. However, after watching Living with Yourself, I am positive that my clone is now existing somewhere else, superior to me in every way and ready to come and destroy my life, take my partner away from me and teach me a lesson about how to make the most of life. Or worse still, am I the clone? Did I just inherit these memories and I am really lying dead in a plot somewhere deep in the woods?
Okay, I need to calm down. Living with Yourself was a truly compelling show with Paul Rudd leading the cast as Miles and Miles. We are introduced quickly to Miles, a down on his luck, pathetic mess of a human being who has obviously grown to hate himself more and more as the years have gone by. You see him in his beautiful white suburban haven, with a gorgeous wife and decent job and you are instantly frustrated with his inability to see the goodness in the world. However, while usually a television series would lean on this heavily as a crutch to propel the plot and it slowly leaves you resenting the lead character, Miles’ story gains more and more depth as the season progresses. With nice little twenty-minute instalments, the season feels like something achievable in a work night but also doesn’t suffer due to the short episodes.
I loved the heart of the cloning concept as it dealt with mental health issues and a crumbling marriage. It doesn’t rely in simple narrative structures of “Clone bad. Original good.” And really made you question: “If he has his memories, his physique and an un-tainted version of his personality, does he deserve the original’s life?”. Kate became one of my favourite characters as the wife in this awkward situation dealing with the crazy of it all. What I loved about her was her ability to deal with situations in not only a human way but in a way you could (mostly) respect and relate to. She was a human but also a badass. You could see her processing the information episode by episode and left you questioning how you would handle this impossible situation if you were in her shoes.
As the season progressed, I enjoyed where they decided to take these characters as Clone-Miles came to terms with who he was and Original-Miles was finally actioned to take his life back, while at the same time sabotaging it all over again. I would have loved to see more of this clone version of the world, though, as there were several hints throughout the show that there were greater powers at work, but we didn’t really have the dramatic payoff for this. At its heart, it showed an inner conflict that a person can have with themselves (as the name suggests) put out onto the screen for all to see. However, this never came across preachy or lazy as Rudd’s performance and the clever cinematography (remember how good The Parent Trap was?) made your heart heavy for both versions of Miles and left you somehow rooting for them both to win.
Living with Yourself felt like a love project for Rudd as his performance of OG Miles and Clone-Miles was incredibly captivating. Even though the season was sharp and sweet, it drew me in with its clever plot and realistic characters. I’m going to go check my body for signs of scars now to try and prove I’m the Original-Kelsey.
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