We Agree: Dash & Lily

 2020, d. Brad Siberling, Pamela Romanowsky, Fred Savage - Netflix
 Created by Joe Tracz, based on the young adult book series by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

I spend a lot of the final two months of the year watching, let's face it, trash.  The now routine annual dive into the holiday romance offerings from Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix and the rest, as I've discussed before, is a real brain warp. The el-cheapo holiday romances are typically not very romantic and they often get miscategorized as "romcom" when there is so rarely any comedy at all.  Watching these movies with cheap production values, routinely questionable acting, formulaic scripts, uninspired music etc. etc. doesn't necessarily mean they're unenjoyable, but like eating A&W burgers and onion rings for dinner or a full tube of Pringles as a snack, it's satisfying and triggers those endorphins but you sometimes don't feel too good afterward.  

Dash & Lily is, by comparison, like eating at a high-end, family-run steakhouse, the kind that ages its own beef and really takes time and care to cook the steak just like you like it, only it's even better than you expected.  It's no Micheline three-star five-course experience, but it's miles ahead of what Hallmark's serving.

Okay, enough with the food metaphors (I'm very, very hungry).

Dash & Lily is a strong contender for best holiday romance ever.  Certainly it takes top spot for best teen holiday romance, not only because there aren't many of those (Let It Snow was great but this is better) but just because it's so damn enjoyable.

Dash (Austin Abrams) is the teenage equivalent of those guys who dress in corduroy jackets with the leather patches on their sleeves.  He's erudite and a bit of a snob, but also too introspective and insular, enjoying the company of books to people.  He was recently dumped and is definitely not feeling the Christmas spirit this year.  He tells his mom he's spending Christmas with Dad, while Dad is off traveling with his latest mid-life crisis arm-candy.  Thus he gets to live in his dad's posh pad solo.

Lily (Midori Francis) has anxiety.  She has comfort zones, but not many.  There's a small terrain of NYC that she'll actually traverse, and her best friends are all adults from her caroling group.  She lives with her college dropout brother and grandfather while her parents are traveling in Asia Pacific for "work".

The show opens with Dash, in a book store, annoying the help by pointing out misorganized titles.  Then he finds a red journal with a message, a dare.  Perform the dare, leave the book, get the next dare and repeat.  Dash is intrigued.  The eloquence of the writing and the very specific literary references entice him.  The guy behind the counter knows what this is all about but refuses to give any hints.  Dash does the dare, and dares right back.  

Dash's best friend, Lily's brother and his new boyfriend, and plenty of acquaintances on either side become quite invested in this little romantic scavenger hunt that Dash and Lily are on, as the two decide quite early to keep their relationship strictly by the book until she's is comfortable enough.

Of course there are complications...these are teens traversing New York City at all hours when they should still be under parental guidance.  There are also investigations, as Dash eventually cannot resist finding Lily, and clues to her identity get behind.

For a story, told over 8 parts, where the two characters aren't interacting on the same screen for the majority, there's absolute chemistry between them, but at the same time it's tremendously important to acknowledge that chemistry on paper is not always chemistry in real life and there's often too much weight put on that first meeting that almost makes it a prohibitive prospect.  Add in the complications of Lily's childhood traumas resurfacing in unexpected ways, the return of Dash's ex-girlfriend (Keana Marie, who's got the accent and aloof charm of a young Gal Gadot), Lily parent's big news and Dash's father's sudden return, among other things, and there's enough minor complications getting in the way of these two adorable teens actually getting together, that it's absolutely heart-swelling when they finally do (not a spoiler, because of course they do).

Lily brings Dash out of his gloomier tendencies, to engage with the world positively, not pessimistically.  Dash encourages Lily in finding her strength, in acknowledging her fear but pushing past it, to engage with the world proactively, not reactively.  They compliment each other in the exact right ways but both have the same trajectory of discovery, about themselves, the world around them, and each other.  It's an undeniable bond, and it's sweet as a dozen candy canes.

Even the side plots of Dash & Lily -- the romantic intrigue of Lily's Grandpa (the great James Saito) as well as his estrangement from Lily's worldly, cultured Aunt (an amazing performance from Jodi Long), the romantic (and life) troubles of Lily's brother Langston, and Dash's uncomfortable relationship with his father -- all flesh out their pocket of reality so nicely.  The only real dud moment was the moment with Nick Jonas in his trailer.  It really felt out of step with the rest of the story and how it was told.  Even visually it had a different feel making it awkwardly stick out.

I think one of the biggest disappointments of the 2021 Christmas television slate is the fact that there isn't a season 2 of Dash & Lily.  It's not that these 8 episodes don't contain everything they need to feel complete and satisfying... I just liked these crazy kids so much I want to see more of their adorable adventures together (of course, without the little red book conceit, one wonders whether it would indeed have the same charm).

[last year's toastypost... we agree]