Normal People
A Bittersweet Portrait of Love and Growth.
I attempted to watch Normal People for the first time earlier this year. It didn’t click—I stopped after the second episode. But my second try, amidst the melancholic backdrop of autumn, proved much more successful. Perhaps it was the shift in mood or perspective that made it resonate more deeply this time around.
The show evokes a peculiar blend of emotions, standing out as a genuinely honest and memorable piece. However, I believe Normal People is best appreciated by viewers aged 25 and above—by those who can watch “from a distance,” when the chapter of life depicted on screen feels distant and already lived through. It's then that you can grasp the full scope of the story, smile wistfully, and recall your own experiences. Had I watched it in my early twenties, I suspect I would have found it incomprehensible and boring.
While I didn’t experience the euphoric admiration that catapulted the series to the top of countless rankings, I can certainly recognize its strengths. Normal People is a story about imperfection: imperfect families, friendships, love, plans, and desires. It’s about how people shape one another through both joy and pain, how they break themselves in the process of understanding—or rejecting—their identities. It’s about the patterns we repeat, fully aware of the consequences, and the fear of saying what we truly feel.
“Why don’t they just talk and solve their problems?” It’s an easy critique to make. But really—do we?
He probably won't come back, she thinks. Or he will, differently. What they have now they can never have back again. But the pain of loneliness will be nothing to the pain she used to feel, of being unworthy. He brought her goodness like a gift, and now it belongs to her. They have done a lot of good for each other. Really, people can change one another. You should go, she says. I’ll always be here. You know that.
This monologue perfectly encapsulates the essence of the show—a bittersweet, tender reflection on how deeply and irrevocably people touch one another’s lives. While no relationship remains unscarred, the marks left behind can sometimes serve as reminders of growth and goodness.
Normal People isn’t just a love story; it’s a story about being human. It’s flawed, vulnerable, and achingly normal.
