To be honest, it’s been a while since a show released on Netflix (or any streaming platform) really captivated me, but Michelle Buteau’s rom-com-adjacent series Survival of the Thickest has totally captured my heart. “Buteau brings her signature wit and humor to the series, making us laugh while also highlighting the very real challenges fat and Black women face in the dating and fashion worlds,” Vogue contributor Shelli Nicole wrote of the show, and with a recommendation like that, I had to dive in. Below, find every thought I had about the first episode of Survival of the Thickest.
- Michelle Buteau has the most beautiful and infectious laugh. I would literally watch a whole show of her laughing.
- We love a stylist with a working command of chip clips (how did you think they got those size-zero dresses to close on set?).
- “Did you know models and toddlers have the same diet?” is an excellent line.
- Michelle, a.k.a. Mavis Beaumont, is flirting with a hot photographer on set, who turns out to be her BF.
- Mavis pulls an entire look to save the shoot, getting on the ground to throw layers of fabric in the air, and guess what? It’s a good photo! Damn, I’m already rooting for this woman to get everything she wants.
- Okay, well, this isn’t exactly what Mavis wanted: Photographer BF is cheating on her, which she literally walks in on, and she correctly beats everyone up.
- Mavis’s friend Khalil is helping her move out of photographer BF’s place, which includes a light amount of stealing his clothes. Good!
- Why do I not really care about the Ariana Grande cheating scandal, but I care about this fictional character’s betrayal?
- Photographer ex-BF (whose name is Jacque) tries to talk Mavis into staying, but she iconically tells him to fuck off and leaves with her plants.
- Word to the wise: Any time a man tells you “It only happened one time, I swear”? Run.
- Watching Mavis haul all her stuff up to a walk-up to meet her weird new roommate is giving me “moving cross-country without movers” flashbacks.
- The new roommate…smears olive oil on everything? Woof.
- Time to go out on the town and meet a guy!
- In fact, Mavis already knows this guy, who…looks kind of nerdy, but whatever, get it on!
- My one note: Best not to have a random, stressful hookup the night before a big work meeting. Trust me!
- Indeed, Mavis straight-up throws up right before hooking up with this guy. Been there too, babe.
- Watching this adult woman scoop her own vomit out of the tub is…weirdly comforting?
- Sex is had!
- Wow, this poor man is fixing Mavis’s whole apartment and building stuff. Is he, maybe…perfect? Or are my standards too low?
- After another pep talk from Khalil (good friend alert!), Mavis hots herself up and goes in for the meeting, but then refuses to work with Jacque on principle and strides right out.
- Good for you, Mavis!