One Day - is Emma meant to be like this?

[AreolaGrande]

Have never read the book. Saw the film years ago but don't remember loads about it 😳.

Am on ep 3 of the Netflix show and Emma is just so bloody miserable and sour? She's vile to Dexter and I don't get why someone as charismatic as him would bother with her relentless negativity and moaning. I seem to remember Anne Hathaway's Emma having more about her? The connection between her Emma and Jim Sturgess's Dexter was much more believable?

Not sure I can be arsed persevering tbh.

DH said we should watch this as it was ‘meant to be like Normal People’. I haven’t read the book but did see the film with Anne Hathaway, which I thought was fine. I agree that I find it hard to believe that someone like Dex would be into Emma. Even he called her out for being rude. It feels a bit like a fantasy of the girl who didn’t get the guy, when actually deep down he was in love with her the whole time.

Will probably keep watching but in my opinion not a patch on Normal People.

OP must have been watching something different to me! Emma was funny, sarcastic and smart - not sour at all. I thought she was great.

I loved the book except for the ending thought the film was not bad but am really nervous of watching the series. I need to know it's worth it to put myself through the ending again!

I thought she was great, maybe a little too good looking?! The chemistry definitely develops over the series. Remember he behaves appallingly so the question is also why she continues to help him. I thought Dexter could have been a bit more good looking as that’s his USP at the beginning when he’s a horrible entitled brat. He does improve later though!!

A couple of episodes is 2 years later though, and he's a full blown Cokehead.

I finished it last night and loved it.
Gutted it has ended now. Maybe I will start normal people.

SPOILER ALERT
Loved the book and reread it many times but Emma was always a borderline unlikable character. Insecure and jealous of Dexter's life, under the guise of being too intellectual for superficial things.

I found Dexter's story more captivating despite him also not being the best person. He was more believable as a character and the scenes that really stayed with me were all ones with Dexter. It's never explicitly mentioned but Dexter is strongly ADHD coded. In a different timeline he may have been able to get diagnosed and treated instead of just dealing with the symptoms.

I felt the least believable part of the book is that someone like Emma could remain best friends with someone like Dexter across so many decades. Emma ticks a few boxes for AuDHD so maybe it was the undiagnosed neurodivergence that drew them to each other. But she generally felt more bland as a person and in real life the connection would have been tenuous at best.

One thing that bugs me. We meet Dexter's parents early on and of course they're braying toffs, easy for us to dismiss as wankers. Do we ever meet Emma's parents? I can't remember from the book.

We don't meet Emma's parents- it's alluded to that they see her value through the men / relationships in her life.

We also don't meet Dex's sister even though his mother mentions her when they get drunk in Rome.

I haven't read the book but was the premise that it was looking at the class system hierarchy? So Emma was working class & felt uncomfortable in Dexter's house.
Dexter was upper middle class but in turn was somewhat out of place in Sylvie's house & needed coaching on the etiquette?

Also i know its fiction etc but it was a little bit too neat that everything happened on that one day including her death....

I felt it was sort of flimsy in many ways.

@ChristmasTreeMagic might want to add a spoiler alert there! Agree with you though, it’s kind of an unnecessary device that it’s all meant to be on the same date.

The whole class thing is of course an undercurrent, I seem to remember it becomes less significant as they get older? It is also a major theme in Normal People. One thing this does have going for it actually is that for once it’s the girl that is lower down the social hierarchy, I feel like it’s almost always the other way around!

We're watching it and I think it's alright. I think the first few episodes Emma comes across badly but that soon turns and actually Dexter seems the arsehole for a few.
Wasn't sure on the casting for Emma in the first episode but as it's gone on she's been really good.

I have never read the book or seen the series so no expectations at all. We watched episode one last night. What a load of tedious nonsense! Was really hopeful it would be a good watch following all the hype but given up already.

It's not all on that one day though- the bit that makes it feel interesting is they're alluding to events like Dexter's wedding that have happened but we don't see. Shakes up the storytelling a bit.

I agree Normal People as a series was really standout. Both books are enjoyable but unremarkable imo. The Normal people adaptation, cast, chemistry.... magic happened.

I loved the book and I lived the same era. The casting is poor, as the series goes on it is growing on me, but there is no chemistry between them and I can't believe that Dexter would have looked twice at Emma.

I actually preferred this series to Normal People! I was way more emotionally invested in the characters, found them more relatable and the whole thing just more enjoyable overall. Bawled my eyes out in this, whereas was fairly unmoved by NP

I enjoyed the series very much. I did find Emma whiny but I thought was to ground Dexter's sense of entitlement (in the beginning). I did think Leo Woodall was excellent and portrayed his own rise and fall expertly. As a PP said, the railway station scene was heartbreaking as was the scene at the end where he sat in the room surrounded by boxes of Emma's things. The flow of tears was almost childlike and I could feel his absolute loneliness.

Just finished watching and I loved it.

I thought the actors were perfectly cast.

Especially enjoyed the 'historic' references to the 1980s/1990s. The music. The fashion. The different places they lived. Belsize Park! Richmond! The restaurant that was clearly supposed to be Quaglinos.

Also the progression from landline to answering machine to mobile.

I am only slightly older than the couple in the series so identified with a lot of the references.

I'm also now listening to This Is The Day by The The on repeat!

Spoilers... Emma was far too good for Dexter! He was so manipulative and used her as a back up and ego boost for years, I was willing her to stand up for herself and tell him to fuck off! He has a spell on her for years, while living his best life, but stopping her living her best life because of the crumbs he throws her every now and then. Then to kiss her while about to marry someone else who is pregnant with his unplanned baby?! That is not a decent man that you should invest your time in Emma! Raise your standards!

But I did like the hamburger landline :) And Dexters Dad shouting at him in the car was heartbreaking.

Not really the point of the thread but I thought the restaurant was meant to be the Atlantic- 'Pacifico' in the series was a play on the name?
Loved the series- left university one year later than them and it all seemed so familiar!

I wondered that. It was Quags that had the cigarette girls though.

I went to both back in the day - and can't really remember the difference! - perhaps it was meant to be a hybridisation.

Quaglino's also had the 'look at me' statement staircase.

Atlantic Bar & Grill was supposed to make you feel like you were on a. cruise ship.

For me the music was one of the best parts! I've had the playlist going on in the background today https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXdohq58sjliD

Was definitely Quaglinos!