Adulthood is supposed to get easier with experience. It Gets Worse finds its comedy in the uncomfortable possibility that you might simply become better at making terrible decisions.
The first season, created by comedian Leo Reich and narrated with wonderfully unsparing wit by Zadie Smith, follows university friends Ethan, Abi, and Sam as they stumble through life in London. Between housing problems, financial pressures, and disastrous relationships, their twenties are less a journey of self-discovery than a succession of increasingly embarrassing setbacks.
The chaos begins when Ethan accidentally smashes a hole in their flat’s wall while removing a picture with a hammer. Facing eviction, the trio must live separately until their new place becomes available. That separation gives each character room to unravel, exposing problems their shared routines have helped them avoid.
Reich makes Ethan a compelling mess: desperate for affection, hungry for validation, and spectacularly ill-equipped to find either. His sexual misadventures include a viral hookup with a man pretending to be his therapist, played by Andrew Scott. Meanwhile, his fixation on Sam’s new housemate, Aaron, further complicates his emotional life. Ethan’s behavior can be exhausting, but the neediness beneath it keeps him from becoming merely a punchline.
Abi appears more successful, securing a promotion to Head of People and moving in with her boyfriend, Tom. Yet her supposedly enviable life leaves her increasingly miserable. A disastrous dinner party exposes the emptiness beneath that polished exterior and eventually prompts her to end the relationship. Sam, an aspiring writer tutoring wealthy children, fares little better. Living with her toxic ex, Zara, and taking an unhappy receptionist job, she struggles to reconcile ambition with survival.
The finale, “People Team,” reunites them in their new flat without pretending proximity equals progress. Their housewarming party becomes another disaster, revealing how little has changed. Ethan still seeks affection in the wrong places, Abi remains lonely, and Sam is caught between aspiration and necessity.
That refusal to offer tidy breakthroughs is the show’s greatest strength. Growth is neither guaranteed nor especially graceful here, and recognition does not automatically lead to change.
The awkward humor, explicit sexual content, and persistent cynicism will not suit everyone. Still, the three leads provide an emotional foundation that makes the discomfort worthwhile. Reich’s writing is sharpest when it exposes the gap between the adults these friends imagine becoming and who they actually are. Painfully familiar, frequently funny, and refreshingly unresolved, It Gets Worse earns its title. Overall, I give the first season an 8/10.
Have you seen It Gets Worse? What did you think of it? Leave a comment.
Catch It Gets Worse on Paramount+.
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