[TV] Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23: Season 1

The Netflix streaming library in the Philippines is not as diverse as the library in  the US. Despite that, I still find myself exploring the depths of what we have available here or at least what everyone else seems to be watching. And I was a little surprised that this show was trending among other Netflix users.

Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 is a sitcom that began as a mid-season filler that didn't survive too long after that. The show laos quirkily includes the likes of Krysten Ritter before her Jessica Jones time and James Van Der Beek playing a shallow caricature of himself.

I don't exactly love the show, but it's the sort of low brow comedy that can help pass the time. Watching it scratches the same sort of itch I feel when I decide to watch 2 Broke Girls. Again, also not a bad show but not something I really go out of my way to watch.

Synopsis: Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 is an American sitcom created by Nahnatchka Khan. The first season began as a mid-season replacement in 2011 and ran for 7 episodes plus a second season after this one.

The show focuses on June Colburn (Dreama Walker), who has moved to New York from Indiana for her dream job. But on her first day she finds out that the job no longer exists nor does the company. Thus she takes up a offer to become the roommate to Chloe (Krysten Ritter). However it turns out to be a bit of a scam as she tries to take up front rent money then drive them out with her outlandish, rude behavior. But she manages to turn the tables on her, thus earning her respect and her unusual brand of friendship.

What I Liked: Admittedly, the James Van Der Beek angle was cheesy but still pretty funny in execution. His characterization is pretty ridiculous but it's the sort of ridiculous that oddly works with our notions of how celebrities might behave when they're not on camera. It didn't make much narrative sense, but it was a fun element added into the mix of things.

I also had fun with Chloe at times, but it may have been more because of how differrent she is here versus in Jessica Jones. And seriously, she is majorly different.

What Could Have Been Better: Our lead character wasn't all that endearing and didn't quite strike that chord of what we imagine a naive midwesterner to be. She can't quite keep up with the energy level of Chloe's character and you can't really expect her to carry a story well.

The writing as a whole is a bunch of gags and one-off scenarios but not much of a story. You can argue that only so much can happen in 7 episodes but we've seen British shows do more with less. So I'm not sure what they wanted to do here or what kind of stories they hoped to tell in the long run.

TL;DR: Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 is a decent enough comedy that has a few good moments of obnoxious humor. Otherwise just look forward to James Van Der Beek acting like an idiot. The first season only gets 2 weird things that Chloe does to June out of a possible 5.