Fleishman Is in Trouble, FX on Hulu’s smart adaptation of Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 novel, is an anxious series. Sure, Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg) is stressed about his ex-wife Rachel’s (Claire Danes) disappearance – she dropped off their two kids a day early, left on a surprise yoga retreat and then went MIA. But what non-book readers may assume to be the premise of a thriller – what happened to Rachel? – will find dread that’s far more mundane. Toby assumes his ex, a chilly, hard-charging theater agent with a fittingly blunt bob, to be acting self-interested as usual. To him, her disappearance is less sinister than cynical, and very annoying – he’s trying to be a good doctor, working full-time at an esteemed hospital, and now he has to be a full-time single dad.
Mundane, yet still potent. A frenetic Whac-A-Mole of everyday stressors propels Fleishman Is in Trouble. Who’s going to pick up the kids from camp? What if your kid hates you? What if you impulsively fire the nanny, as Toby does in one of many fits of misdirected righteousness. Where did the time go? As several characters ask throughout the series: how did we get here?
