Mindy Kaling is moving through the various stages of life. With the Netflix series *Never Have I Ever*, the comedy mogul tackled the high school years; with HBO Max’s *The Sex Lives of College Girls*, she moved (literally) to college. Hulu’s *Not Suitable for Work*—Kaling’s first series as sole creator since *The Mindy Project*, and executive produced by her frequent collaborator Charlie Grandy—continues this progression into the uncertain post-graduation phase, featuring characters struggling to establish both their careers and their adult relationships.
However, while college-set series are notoriously difficult to pull off successfully—making *Sex Lives*’ three-season run a remarkable achievement—and *Never Have I Ever* offered a specific portrait of an Indian-American family in Los Angeles narrated by John McEnroe, *Not Suitable for Work* feels like a bland take on a well-worn premise. Glimpses of a sharper, more memorable approach to young people juggling work and romance in New York City throughout this nine-episode season remain just that: mere glimpses.
Creator: Mindy Kaling
Stars: Ella Hunt, Will Angus, Jack Martin
The series was originally titled *Murray Hill*, a reference to the neighborhood—known for being rather conventional and unoriginal (sorry, residents, you know it’s true!)—located just south of Midtown Manhattan. "I’m not cool enough for Brooklyn; I’d get eaten alive there!" says AJ (Ella Hunt), one of five ambitious young singles split between two apartments facing each other on the same landing.
AJ works long hours as a first-year investment banking associate alongside her neighbor Davis (Will Angus) and shares an apartment with Abby (known simply as Avantika), an aspiring celebrity stylist. Davis lives with his childhood friends: Kel (Nicholas Duvernay), who drops out of medical school in the first episode to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, and Josh (Jack Martin), a journalist whose idealism and ethics don't stop him from leveraging his father—a media executive—to land a production assistant job on a news program.
The group quickly weaves a complex web of crushes that takes the love triangle into new geometric territory. Davis, a "buddy-type" romantic who tends to come on too strong, becomes obsessed with Abby—with whom Josh had a fling during a Model UN trip, though he doesn't even recognize her. That may not matter, however, as a spark ignites between her and Bill (Jay Ellis—a veteran of the Kaling universe who also appears in the Netflix basketball series *Running Point*, co-created by her), their ruthless boss.
Kel sets his sights on Abby, who is busy trying to convince her client Austin Blanchett (Harry Richardson)—Cate’s nephew, naturally—to take fashion seriously; this leaves Kel free to reach out to Kate (Ego Nwodim), a past flame, about a future teaching job. Chemistry is in short supply—except between Hunt and Ellis—but the pairing combinations certainly aren't.
Beyond the protagonists' love lives, *Not Suitable for Work* has to flesh out four distinct professional settings—a tall order for a breezy half-hour episode to pull off successfully. By placing AJ and Davis in the same grueling rat race, the bank becomes the best-developed secondary setting; however, the show softens the edges of the cutthroat financial world with somewhat cheesy storylines, such as the one where the trading team wins over an underwear client by having everyone reveal their matching shapewear.
On the other hand, while Josh is an easy target for jokes about NPR tote bags and Sierra Club memberships, his storylines barely hint at any aptitude—or even interest—in actual journalism. Instead, he spends his days dealing with the vain anchor Wes (Victor Garber) and the abrasive producer Paula (Judy Gold)—a dynamic that, while aiming to comment on the reality of TV news, lacks real substance.
Not everything in a series with "work" in the title is without merit. The witty exchanges between Kel and the spoiled private-school girls—who know more about Jane Austen than he ever will—are charming, and Constance Wu delivers her best performance in years as Vanessa, Abby’s tyrannical, capricious boss; a role that channels some of the blunt candor of her breakout character—the immigrant mother in *Fresh Off the Boat*—but with a cold veneer of urban haughtiness. Wu’s performance stands out, highlighting an underutilized asset in the *Not Suitable for Work* arsenal.
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