I’m glad I finally got the time to watch this insanely buzzed about show, I May Destroy You. It’s sure to be snatching up a bunch of awards in the coming months, and I love a little indie show with a lot of love. Truth be told, this wasn’t my favorite, but that’s probably got more to do with the fact that it wasn’t like a typical show that I watch. Nothing can deny the talent that lives within show’s creator Michaela Coel, and she took us all on a very personal and sometimes wild ride.
Coel plays Arabella, a woman who’s trying to write a follow-up to her hit novel and loves the party lifestyle. Just as she gets back to England from a 3-month stay in Italy, she heads out with some friends and a handful of strangers. The next morning, Arabella wakes up in the office where she was writing earlier that day, with absolutely no recollection of how she got there or what happened for most of the night. She just attributes it to a blackout and heads home. That’s where a really small memory sparks. A man was having sex with her barely conscious body in a bathroom stall. Arabella was raped.
She tries for a very short time to pretend like that memory was false, but she soon comes to the conclusion that this happened to her and she goes to report it. While the police are taking it seriously, no suspect ever turns up. Arabella decides to join a support group, and her closest friends Terry and Kwame are always there to listen and partake in self-care days. While she tries to get back into the dating world, she hooks up with a fellow writer, Zain, who also rapes her by removing a condom during sex. At this point, Arabella’s had it and calls him out at a book reading. That was a seriously epic scene.
From this point on, Arabella’s social media standing takes off as she advocates for rape victims. This does cause a riff between her and her friends, but with the help of her therapist, Arabella soon swears off social media, as it isn’t really helping her heal. The series culminates in Arabella staking out the bar where the rape took place, and the last episodes sees her envision three different scenarios if she ever came face to face with him. Ultimately, after a year of letting this event rule her life, she decides to move on. We find out this whole story is what her second novel is about.
Look, this is me high-level explaining what went on, and I didn’t even remotely cover all the details! She packs so much into these twelve episodes, but it all serves a purpose to who she is and what’s she’s been through. I personally wasn’t a fan of her Italian travels and her desperation to be with a non-committal drug dealer. But that was the only part really. The show reminded me a little bit of Dave, where Gata got his own episode. In this series, a girl named Theo from he support group and someone she went to school with got her own flashback episode and it was amazing! Another great episode primarily featured a dinner with her parents where we got see Arabella briefly from her childhood.
And yes, the main story is Arabella’s, but her two best friends are such an integral part of it. Especially her friend Terry, who feels responsible for Arabella’s rape. She is there for Arabella though, and that is true friendship. She also struggles to find acting work and ends up in a relationship with a transgender man. Her other friend Kwame is on-screen somewhat sporadically, and his life seems unbelievably complicated. I don’t know if being gay is taboo in England, but he sure makes it seems like it is. Kwame spends most of the season randomly hooking up with guys, one time hooking up with a girl, getting raped himself, and then struggling to accept an actual relationship where sex isn’t the first step. It was very sad to see the difference in the police’s handling (or non-handling) of Kwame’s rape report. I hope this shines a light on the fact that anyone can get raped.
Overall, this show had a lot to say, and Michaela Coel succeeded in telling a story that was real and raw, and very timely. I May Destroy You might not be for everyone, but you should check it out if you’ve got the time. Especially for the finale episode! That might have been one of the best endings I’ve ever seen on television.