TV-14 | 8 episodes | Comedy, Drama, Mystery | 2024
Over the course of 40 plus years, actor Ted Danson has played a lead character in 11 TV series and most of them (seven) weren’t very good and/or were short-lived. However, five of them (eight if you count three incarnations of “CSI”) are exceptional. “Cheers,” “CSI,” “Becker,” “Damages,” and “The Good Place” solidified Danson’s position as one of TV’s most dependable and versatile performers.
“A Man on the Inside” (“Inside”) marks Danson’s second collaboration with show runner Michael Schur, the creator of “The Good Place” and much like that show, “Inside” is a TV anomaly. “The Good Place” was a sitcom with a unique premise (the afterlife) that infused the storylines with heady subject matter (morality and ethics) without ever coming across as lecturing, furrow-browed, or preachy.
Navigating Smart Phones
In “Inside,” Danson stars as Charles, a retired engineering professor and recent widower, whose existence has become increasingly boring, routine, and solitary. Urged by his daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) to do something new, Charles answers a want ad in the newspaper (remember those?), posted by detective agency owner Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) looking for a 75- to 85-year-old man who knows how to use a smartphone. That’s it—a smartphone. As easy as that may sound, Charles is the only qualified applicant.
Wisely changing the premise to theft instead of abuse, Schur and his writers have Charles moving into a high-end San Francisco retirement home to ferret out the person who stole a resident’s ruby necklace.
Charles and Julie (pretending to be Emily) apply to and are quickly approved by the home’s general manager Didi (Stephanie Beatriz), an alarmingly efficient administrator. Didi deftly balances business and interpersonal relationships with both the residents and her dedicated staff.
Spurned Lover
This doesn’t go over well at all with Elliott (John Getz), Virginia’s blustery and bullying, cigar-smoking ex. Elliot desperately wants her back and hasn’t a clue on how to do so gracefully, or to play hard to get. At one point, one of characters refers to Virginia and Elliott as the “Ross and Rachel” (a wry nod to “Friends”) of the home, and that residents as a whole are senior-aged “eighth graders.”
Things heat up when Elliott’s prized 1979 Cartier watch is pilfered and he, predictably, accuses Charles of both “stealing both his watch and his woman,” which he punctuates by punching Charles and leaving him with a bloody nose.
While this minor venture into slapstick and misdirection is amusing, it’s not indicative of the series as a whole. Schur and his fellow writers present a deft mix of the comically absurd and the heartfelt reality of the failing health of aging. Death and severe illness is always around the corner for all of the residents. To Schur’s credit, he saves the most impactful moving example of this for the sixth episode.
At multiple points in the series, it’s stated that the principal cause of depression and death among seniors is not failing health, but rather loneliness. This is the reason that Charles takes on his new job and why multiple residents of the home slowly but surely wither away. The man who hired Julie in the first place rarely, if ever, visits his mother, even on her birthday.
The Big Reveal
Schur waits until the final episode to reveal the identity of the thief which, for me, narratively speaking, was something of a letdown. There are little, if any, preceding clues that hint at the culprit’s identity. While the motives make sense and jibes with what was previously presented, it still felt strongly anticlimactic.“Inside” isn’t a “destination” show; it’s a “journey,” much like life itself. It doesn’t hit on all cylinders like “The Good Place” did, but it still finds Schur (and, by extension, Danson) exploring concerns of mortality in interesting, highly relatable ways.
“Inside” wasn’t subtitled “Season 1,” but it ends in a manner that indicates a second season is not only possible but probable. I sincerely hope that Schur, Danson, and Netflix keep it going while upping the ante.
