After I became the oldest in my family at 24, the pull towards older people was gravitational

‘What will happen if I screw up? Who will catch me if I fall? What if I end up homeless? I imagine this happens to lots of people when their parents pass, but at 24, it was particularly brutal.’ Photograph: Isabella Moore/The Guardian

In the American sitcom New Girl, on a park bench in Los Angeles, twentysomething shambles Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) befriends an old man named Tran (Ralph Ahn), who helps him work through a conundrum without uttering a word.

Tran pops up throughout the show’s seven seasons, his soothing, silent counsel helping Nick navigate adult life. It’s worth watching the entire, criminally underrated series just for this beautiful, untypical friendship.