I binge watched it yesterday. I haven't read the book or watched the film and didn't know anything much about it, because I was afraid of reading spoilers. So I watched it without any preconceived ideas.
I quite liked it overall, but I didn't think it was amazing.
I was at university a bit later than Emma and Dex ('89 - '93). There were some things I could really relate to. Such as, writing letters to my classmates, especially during the summer holidays. My classmates were from all different parts of Ireland and long-distance phone calls were really expensive. Previous posters have asked how they maintained their friendship, but I think that was mainly Emma's doing, especially in the period immediately after university, when Dex was living in Europe. Emma wrote to him a lot. At some point, Dex said that he really appreciated her descriptive letters and that he wasn't much good at writing himself.
I loved the first scene at the graduation ball. That sense of excitement but also uncertainty - on the one hand, feeling that the whole world was your oyster. But also a little bit of fear because you're stepping out into the big world, away from the safety nets of school and university.
I could also totally relate to life before mobile phones. Ringing house phones and not knowing if anyone would answer. Having to speak to the parents or sibling of the person you were looking for. Not being able to contact people urgently. Trying to find a phone box when out and about, needing the right coins, hoping the phone was actually working etc.
The episode where Dex overindulged in booze/drugs and then went to visit his parents was outstanding. All the signs that his mother's condition was deteriorating - her comment about how Emma might be better sending her short stories, her need to be carried up to bed (although surely they would have invested in a stair lift or set up a bedroom downstairs?), Dex's glimpse of a commode in her bedroom etc. And Dex turning to more booze/pills as a coping mechanism. That awkward conversation with his Dad in the car on the way to the station ........ However, I'm not sure if Dex would have left all those messages for Emma. If she was sharing with Tilly, then Tilly could have played back the messages. But maybe she had her own place by then. I can't quite remember.
Most of all, I liked the fact that the characters experienced lots of ups and downs along the way. For Dex it was the loss of his mother, his brushes with alcoholism and drugs, an unplanned baby, a shotgun marriage, a divorce, the loss of his career with no Plan B. For Em, it was touring with the play, working in a minimum wage job (despite having a first class honours degree), settling for a career (teaching) she wasn't really passionate about, settling for guys she didn't really love etc. They had both been through a lot even before That Scene. Actually, they both had one thing in common. Neither of them really knew what they wanted to do after university. Dex drifted into TV work and Emma only pursued teaching because Dex pushed her in that direction. Although he later denigrated teaching as a career.
I'm not sure if I was totally convinced about the romance, if I'm honest. I think it could have worked equally well as a longstanding friendship between two friends where the timing was never quite right for it to develop into something further. But I guess the romance added a certain, "Will they or won't they?", tension.
Now I'm wondering if I should read the book. Is there more detail in the book?