Whether you were closeted for a few months or years, or still are, some overcompensating is involved in remaining sane and present even when unaware it’s happening.
Benito Skinner plays a comedic version of being in the closet, basing the events on Overcompensating on his own life in college in the 2010s.
In this day and age, nothing is off limits when it comes to comedy, but some topics are just not fun to write jokes about.
They’re either deeply unfunny or run out of good stuff to write very quickly.
Maybe that’s why few coming out comedies have worked, from The Real O’Neils to Love, Simon. They always leave something to be desired.
Overcompensating leaves a lot to be desired.
I Just Don’t Want to Go Back, Back To the 2010s
Read the heading above to the tune of Troye Sivan and Charli XCX‘s bop “1999.” It’s funnier that way, and Charli will come up later.
I’m confident that it seemed like the best time for people who were part of the culture in the 2010s, i.e., high school and college students.
But if it’s a faint memory or nothing special, setting a show during that period seems unwarranted.
Overcompensating takes place sometime in that decade, but it’s hard to tell when.
It takes a couple of episodes before it dawns on the viewer that these jokes are from the 2010s, so are the phones, and the color grading.
It leaves the viewer behind from the get-go, which has never been good for any show.
Did Everyone In the 2010s Look So Old?
Now that The CW has stopped creating teen dramas starring actors in their thirties, age in casting has returned to being a glaring issue.
Most of the actors are over a decade past prime college age, and with some like Benny fresh out of high school, it throws someone seeing an older actor play a freshman.
Even characters supposed to be in their final years of college somehow look too old for college.
And that’s saying something since anyone can attend college at any age.
Overcompensating could have benefited from hiring younger actors.
You’re a Comedy, What Are You Doing?
Episodes are roughly 30 to 25 minutes long, and they try to balance multiple characters’ stories.
Comedies can not succeed in following many characters unless they cycle through them or do most of the heavy lifting for the audience by using … a laughtrack.
It can be hard to tell what is funny about most interactions in the show, given that most characters don’t have any depth beyond what’s been established.
There’s the closeted guy, the slut-shammed girl, the a**shole boyfriend, and a plethora of other side characters.
Apart from Benny, none feel realized enough to warrant being followed even for a single episode.
Thirty minutes end without much laughter or progress for the most interesting aspect.
‘Overcompensating’ Does the Closet Well
The only thing the show succeeds in portraying is the delicate existence of being in the closet.
While it doesn’t dive into the emotional toll it takes on someone to be hiding 100% of the time, it makes a good point of showing how rough it can be.
The first few episodes succeed in showing how Benny is trapped in the weight of everyone and his expectations for himself.
However, when the other characters show up and Benny’s story takes the backseat, it loses the best thing about it.
By season’s end, there is little investment in how everything plays out, even with a massive cliffhanger.
Stray Thoughts
- I get that Charli XCX was huge in the 2010s, but my god, do we have to listen to her music only? Does being the show’s music producer mean she gets to choose all the songs—songs that feel so 2010s?
- Most characters are uninteresting, but Carmen’s roommate, Hailee (Holmes), is such a vibe. I’d watch a show about her. Add Gabe (Corteon Moore) to the mix and I’d be sat.
- For a gay show, Overcompensating is not that gay.
Verdict
Deeply unfunny and personal, the show explores the lengths to which we all overcompensate while on the path to finding out who we really are.