Hulu’s sitcom Not Suitable for Work is perfect for your weekly watch. It’s a Friends-style Gen-Z comedy packed with familiar romance tropes, cozy apartment hijinks, and New York career chaos. Featuring Ella Hunt’s standout performance and a charming ensemble, this Mindy Kaling series leans into comfort rather than reinvention. Here’s a recap and review of Episodes 1–3.
Episode 1: “Welcome to Murray Hill”
The series premiere efficiently establishes the central group dynamic, their crushing career anxieties, and a glorious mess of instant roommate tension.
We meet Abby (Avantika), who is illegally subletting a Manhattan apartment in her ex-boyfriend’s name. Her college best friend AJ (Ella Hunt) moves in after arriving from Boston. Across the hall live three guys: lovable finance bro Davis (Will Angus), squeamish med-school dropout and aspiring actor Kel (Nicholas Duvernay), and trust-fund nepo baby Josh (Jack Martin).
Annoyed by his new female neighbors, Josh immediately tries to have Abby and AJ evicted for “rent fraud” through the landlord, Antoine. But karma hits fast when Josh’s girlfriend abruptly dumps him. When AJ helps Josh out of a tight jam, a humbled Josh calls off the eviction.
Romance is already bubbling in the worst way possible. Davis falls instantly in love the second he spots AJ in the lobby. The feeling isn’t mutual yet, and by the end of the night, AJ accidentally pepper-sprays him in the hallway. To make things messier, a college secret surfaces: AJ and Josh hooked up back in school, but he ghosted her and now doesn’t even remember her face.
It’s a busy pilot, but it successfully sets up the building’s awkward history, the apartment politics, and the messy, overlapping crushes that will drive the comedy.
Episode 2: “The Dolce Vita”
Episode 2 digs deeper into the characters’ professional struggles as they try to survive their demanding bosses.
AJ’s corporate career gets off to a hilariously disastrous start. On her first official day at a high-stakes investment banking firm, she discovers that her strict, workaholic Managing Director Bill Gibson (Jay Ellis) is the same man she got into a screaming argument with at a coffee truck the day before. Hunt’s comedic timing as AJ realizes this is a clear highlight.
Over in the fashion world, Abby’s toxic celebrity-stylist boss, Vanessa Hsu (Constance Wu), gets hit by a pedicab, forcing Abby to handle a high-profile fitting on her own. When elite British actor Austin Blanchett (Harry Richardson) hates Vanessa’s original wardrobe choices, Abby gambles and styles him in a bold pomegranate Dolce & Gabbana suit. The risk pays off, saving the brand deal and sparking undeniable chemistry between Abby and her star client.
Meanwhile, Josh lands a plum Production Assistant job at The Wes Dryden Show by casually dropping the name of his network-CEO father, despite insisting he doesn’t want to rely on his privilege. Kel, still trying to force himself through med school, passes out the second he sees a cadaver and has to confront the fact that his real passion lies in the theater.
This episode clarifies everyone’s career lane and shows how the show plans to balance workplace satire with romantic chaos.
Episode 3: “The Philadelphia Thirst Monster”
Episode 3 plays like a classic hangout bottle episode, trapping all five characters in one apartment and letting their secrets collide.
To thank Davis for helping her navigate their shark-infested investment banking job, AJ throws an intimate dinner party at her and Abby’s place, inviting Davis, Kel, and Josh.
Things spiral quickly. Davis suffers a severe allergic reaction to AJ’s cooking, derailing her attempt at a calm, grown-up networking night. As the medical chaos peaks and the drinks keep flowing, buried feelings and history surface.
Kel’s slow-burning crush on Abby becomes obvious to everyone. The embarrassing truth about Josh and AJ’s college past finally comes out in front of the whole group, earning Josh the deeply humiliating permanent nickname “The Philadelphia Thirst Monster.” The reveal reshapes the dynamic between the two apartments and sets up a juicy rivalry and romantic tangle for the rest of the season.
Not Suitable for Work may not reinvent the sitcom wheel, but it doesn’t need to. Mindy Kaling has crafted a light, laugh-out-loud comfort show powered by an effortlessly charming cast. The series leans hard into familiar tropes—roommates, workplace disasters, messy exes, and unrequited crushes—but does so with enough warmth and specificity to feel like an easy weekly escape.
It’s exactly the kind of show you put on after a long day at work, when you want to unwind and watch beautiful people stumble through romantic mishaps and career crises in New York City.
Overall, I give the premiere a 7.5/10.
Have you seen Not Suitable for Work? Will you continue to watch the rest of the season? Leave a comment.
You can catch Not Suitable for Work streaming on Hulu, with a new episode on Tuesday.
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