“Up Here”: Episode 1 Recap – Mae Whitman, Carlos Valdes on Hulu

Has a Zoey’s extraordinary playlist-shaped hole to fill in your TV lineup? Well, Hulu is here to help.

The streamer released all eight episodes of its musical rom-com on Friday Up heremain role good girls“Mae Whitman and The Lightningis Carlos Valdes. And while the entire season is now available to munch on, we’re sticking with the events of the series premiere; Before you tell us what you think, here’s what happened in Episode 1:

As you can tell from the title “Lindsay”, the first part focuses largely on Whitman’s character. During her childhood in the 1980s, Lindsay reveals to her best friend Celeste that her biggest sexual fantasy is to date a librarian. Not the actually, senior librarian at her school! Only A Librarian. But the specification doesn’t matter: Celeste leaks Lindsay’s secret to the school, parents and students are horrified, and Lindsay’s mother encourages her to hide her innermost thoughts forever. “You show people that Pretty Share,” says her mother. “Believe me, that’s all people want to see.”

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Cut to 1999 – that’s for today Up here — and Lindsay lives a humble life that’s the same every day with her crazy boyfriend Ned. That doesn’t mean Lindsay’s life is quiet, though: Ever since that childhood trauma involving the librarian fantasy, Lindsay’s anxiety has taken the form of her parents and ex-BFF Celeste, who follow her throughout the day and serve as worried voices in her head. (Sometimes they sing!)

But in private, Lindsay has always longed to be a writer, and when she wins a prestigious short story award presented by a bookstore in New York City, she proposes to Ned that they move there, arguing that their relationship could use a new adventure anyway . However, he immediately locks her up – and the next morning she breaks off their relationship and decides to venture to New York alone. (It’s probably for the best. This award-winning story, written by Lindsay, was about “a woman who’s never had an orgasm before” — and it clearly drew from personal experience.)

City life begins underwhelming for Lindsay. Her bedroom in her apartment is literally a closet, and that award she received from the bookstore? It wasn’t the Weetly Short Story Prize that sounded important: it was just that weekly short story prize (an unfortunate typo!), and all Lindsay gets for it is $15 in credit. A month goes by and Lindsay is now working in said bookshop… but she hasn’t written anything of her own since her arrival, as her roommate adamantly points out.

That night, through a fun song and dance, Lindsay resolves to stop repressing what she really wants to do and say with her life. “What if I try to change this constantly repeating melody?” She sings. “What if I let her see the dark side of my moon?” With that, she dresses up and joins her roommate at a nearby bar, where she meets an investment banker named Jimmy (Valdes). The two immediately spark a flirty bond, and when Jimmy’s co-workers get so pounded they start throwing up on the bar floor, Lindsay and Jimmy decide to move into his office, which has a gorgeous view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Just as the two seem ready to kiss, Jimmy pauses and looks at something in the corner of the room, almost as if his own inner monologues are stopping him from moving. “You don’t have to listen to them, you know,” Lindsay tells him knowingly. “All that noise in your head. I’ve realized lately that’s not always the truth.” But when she worries she may have gone too far, Lindsay apologizes and heads for the door… until she changes her mind at the last moment. She tells Jimmy that she’s trying to be less apologetic and go after what she really wants. And now she wants to kiss him and Jimmy is all about it.

Their kiss quickly escalates into sex in Jimmy’s office – and despite the fact that Lindsay is wearing red plastic pants that don’t give at all at the waistband, the sex seems to be going pretty well. For example, that Lindsay enjoys her very first orgasm. But at the climax of the encounter, Lindsay pulls away when she realizes her cheek is wet and Jimmy is crying. “S—t,” he says, without explaining his sudden emotion. “I should go. That was… I’m sorry.” Clearly humiliated, he storms out of the office – and Lindsay is brought back by her inner voices. “Be honest,” says Celeste. “How hard did you pull on it?!”

Meanwhile, Jimmy gets into the elevator, still in tears. And as the camera pans out, we discover that he does have a trio of voices at his side: a woman who is evidently his mother; an anonymous man (father? stepfather? boss?); and an anonymous young woman (a sister? an ex?). Once Jimmy is alone, they pounce on him about what just happened with Lindsay. His mother says Lindsay played mind games with him. The man tells him that he is weak. The girl calls him a little slut. As the elevator doors close, Jimmy asks them, “Close. High.”

it’s your turn what were you thinking about Up herehis debut? do you keep watching Cast your vote in our polls below, then explain your choice in the comments!