A lot of people call it their “favorite horror story” but dare I say it is my comfort show. Maybe I am weird, but I feel this show on a deep level, maybe I relate to it, maybe I find solace in the fact that two people who love each other never stopped loving each other during their time apart, maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic. But that’s not to say actually living their life wouldn’t be a nightmare because it would be, but watching their story unfold from both perspectives is heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. The videography, the script, the acting, the slow pace of it all is what makes this show so distinguishable from others. It is a classic miscommunication trope.
It’s Not a Love Story…But It Kind Of Is
For context, Normal People, is a Hulu original series based off of the novel by Sally Rooney. It follows the story of Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron played by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. These two meet in high school where Marianne is the shy, mistreated “loner,” and Connell is the jock part of the popular crowd. Later in the story though, they grow out of these stereotypes and find their true selves. The new versions don’t resonate with the original versions of themselves that we met. For some reason, although their social cliques don’t align they end up finding their way to each other and creating a deep connection that nobody except them two understand or really even knows about.
Marianne: Love Without Reassurance
From Marianne’s perspective, she is described as a very sensitive person who feels things deeply. She never really says what’s wrong, so it is hard to tell what she is thinking. She also has a lot of deep rooted trauma because of her family dynamic growing up and thus leading her to making bad decisions in her relationships. And I think that’s what a lot of their problems stemmed from, was he just never telling her or reassuring her of things so she just had to keep moving with her life.
Connell: Love Without Voice
From Connell’s perspective, he is very anxious but he hides it well, and Marianne seems to be the only person who understands that not only is he very anxious but he is actually very smart, he’s humble, he doesn’t let that on. He has a hard time saying things because he doesn’t know how the other person will respond, so in social settings he tends to stay quiet. Their love affair, kept secret at first, was due to his fear of what people at school would say if they knew he and Marianne were together. This was an issue for both of them later on in the series that they did end up working through it.
The Longest Situationship of All Time
They were never “official,” so I guess you could say that they were in a very long-term situationship that lasted them all the way from senior year of high school until the end of their senior year of college. When in a situationship, it’s known that a lot of miscommunication happens and things go unsaid, and this show does a great job of showing that. As the audience, we know they love each other, and they both know it, but because they never said it, they would always end up separating, even if it felt like they didn’t want to. They made their mistakes, they hurt each other, but they never really meant to, and to me, that’s the overall lesson to be learnt from the show, stop miscommunicating.
Why This Show Hurts (In a Good Way)
I think I like this show so much because of the fact that I only really watch it in monumental moments of my life. Monumental moments being that “I’ve been single for long enough and I’m healed, let me impulsively watch Normal People to feel something again.” Like I am not gonna lie, it is a sad show. I understand people who don’t like it for that reason, so I do have to be mentally stable enough to watch it every time. I have watched it probably four times now, and really, it makes me feel something.
Chemistry You Can’t Fake
Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones just have a natural chemistry that is so undeniable and captivating. I mean, it’s even translated into real-life chemistry and even rumors, I mean, every chronically online person knows this photo. This is what sparked my interest in Normal People in the first place, thus leading me to watch it and changing my brain chemistry forever.
At its core, Normal People is not just a story about romance – it’s a story about the human condition: the way that silence wounds, the way love can endure despite the distance, and the way two people can be each other’s saviors while simultaneously being the downfall. It’s messy, imperfect, and painfully real, which is why it resonates deeply. Watching Marianne and Connell stumble through miscommunication and heartbreak reminds us that love is never simple, but it is always transformative. The ending of the show isn’t neat but it’s better than a perfect ending: a reminder that even in our most complicated relationships there is beauty in vulnerability, and comfort in knowing that connection is what makes us human.