A Man on the Inside shows both the heartwarming and heartbreaking sides of life in a retirement home. Retirement homes often get a bad rep. Stereotypically, they are boring places with daily bingo nights, where old people are shipped off to when they become too difficult to deal with. A place where old people go to die, bluntly put. This new Netflix show takes a different approach. We are shown the nice and ugly sides of life in this community of elderly and their caretakers in a lighthearted way.
The case of the missing necklace quickly moves to the background, but that is no problem for the quality of the show at all
We end up in this retirement home by following Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson, The Good Place), a retired but lonely professor. After his daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) encourages him to find a new hobby, he responds to a newspaper ad from private detective Julie (Lilah Richcreek, Chicago Med). She needs a man on the inside of the retirement home to find out who stole a pricey necklace from her client’s mother. She believes Charles to be the man for the job, and he quickly moves into the home.
The categories of 'crime' and 'comedy' do not really do justice to what you are getting
What follows is the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of the lives of those inside the home. While the series is a comedy, as is clear from the unlikely premise, the jokes, and overall hint of absurdism, the weight of the topics discussed should not be underestimated. The series covers love and loss, family and loneliness, and above all what it is like to become older. The case of the missing necklace quickly moves to the background, but that is no problem for the quality of the show at all. Just know that if you start watching this series, the categories of 'crime' and 'comedy' do not really do justice to what you are getting.
And what we are getting are lovely smaller stories each episode, with some overarching story lines over the whole season. We also get to see some great actors playing the residents and staff, with a special mention for Didi the director, played by Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine). It is also nice to see some older actors move to the center stage for once, and it is impressive how you grow attached to such a wide variety of characters over as few as eight 25 minute episodes.
Overall, Netflix has a real gem here. The start was a bit slow, but the series really gets going around episode three. Let us hope that the show will be renewed, which is always a bit difficult to predict with Netflix’s erratic renewals. The final episode closes the central case, but also opens the door for a new case. And I think there are many more stories to tell about the retirement home residents.
About the writer, Nienke de Boode
She started with watching NCIS, CSI and Bones, but over time her passion for TV shows has grown to what it is today, with dozens of shows that need to be watched. You can always wake her up for a good crime show, but she is also open to different things. Comedy and fantasy are on her list of favourites as well. Since October 2014, she also writes for MySeries to combine her love for TV shows and writing.
