“One Day at a Time” is a Netflix TV series about a mother named Penelope and her family. Penelope is a newly single army veteran with two kids, Alex and Elena. She lives in the same house as her mother, Lydia. They have a landlord named Schneider who is a Canadian nepo baby, which means he was born into a lavish life, does not need to work for anything and gets his money from his parents. He was born into wealth, but does not like his parents.
The first season leads to Elena’s quinceañera, which she is up in the air about. In the end, Elena ends up having one and the actors really convey realistic emotions. What helped a lot was their facial expressions, which made the scene rich and full of emotion. When Penelope embraces Elena to comfort her, it was very emotional and heartwarming.
Each actor who was cast, acted perfectly. They each enveloped their own role and really made the characters come to life. Anyone can be assigned a character to play, but not everyone can fully execute how the character is meant to be envisioned. Every emotion is very calculated to exactly how the character would act. One example is when Alex talks to his whole family about how people keep calling him racist names. He was very sad and it showed in his eyes and facial features. On the other hand, his family is giving him looks of sympathy and understanding with their eyes dulling over how racist the world is. They made it feel like they weren’t just actors, but they were the characters themselves.
The plot of the series is very interesting and it is easy to follow along. Each episode follows realistic situations which makes it easier to connect with each character. Each character is really in depth with lots of background which helps them show emotional growth. Alex has to deal with the struggle of puberty and how racist the world is all at the same time. While Elena struggles with her sexuality and the negativity of the world. Lydia struggles with her health and letting the past go. Schneider struggles with his alcohol problems. Penelope struggles with her PTSD and anxiety. They each have their ups and downs, but in the end it all turns out well.
Overall I loved the series and its ups and downs. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.