Rebuilding Rob

The first time I’ve ever heard of Fleishman Is In Trouble was when I saw the ads for the Hulu miniseries. I didn’t realize that it was also a book. But the trailer had suggested that it was about a couple going through a divorce, something that’s right at my wheelhouse obviously. I had put the book in my “Amazon cart“ for a few months and basically forgot about it.

The 2022 miniseries is the story of Toby Fleischman (Jesse Eisenberg) , a doctor in New York City, who recently divorced his wife Rachel (Claire Danes). The series begins as Toby is entering the world of online dating and struggling to juggle his new-found social life with his parental and professional responsibilities. Rachel goes missing-in-action one day when she is supposed to pick up their children for the weekend. But in order for Toby to find Rachel, he has to look back in order to learn what went wrong with his marriage. In the process of doing that, To ye begins to wonder if he ever really knew Rachel at all.

Given the age of the characters in this story, I cannot help but connect with it on a very deep level. In episode 1 we see To y enter the world of online dating, where he is far more successful than he ever was in his youth.

Watching episode 3 “free pass“ I am reminded of some of the highlights and low lights of my own marriage. in fact, the first time Toby and Rachel sleep together, “Tonight, Tonight” by Smashing Pumpkins plays in the back ground. The song, released in 1995 matches up with the same time that I met X1. Needless to say, this story resonates with me on a very deep level. There’s moment in Episode 4 where Toby asks his friend Libby (who also narrates the series) “Am I that unlovable?” I’d be lying I said that question didn’t cross my mind more than once after my own divorce.

As for narrator Libby, her story takes center stage in episode 5 “vantablack”. We see the Libby is a foil for Toby’s ex-wife. Whereas Rachel ruthlessly pursued her own career ambitions, Libby’s career has stalled in what she thought was her dream job. Both Libby and Rachel are faced with the decision that many women face: family or career.

As the viewer, you think that the title Fleishman is in Trouble is pretty self-explanatory, especially after watching the first six episodes. But by episode seven, the title takes on an entirely different meaning. In episode seven,  we get Rachel’s side of the story. In Fleishman… just as in the real word, there are two sides to every story. In divorce, no one is innocent; neither is either party entirely guilty.

FINAL TAKE: recommended, particularly to 20 something or divorced people. I wouldn’t recommend this for kids, as one it will be over their head and there’s quite a few sex scenes.

And now I’m curious to you get the Fleishman novel out of my Amazon card, read it and make the inevitable comparisons between it and the miniseries

Meanwhile

I can’t think about how incredibly timely it was that I started watching Fleishman at this point in the year. This Wednesday would’ve been my 25th wedding anniversary. As I’m writing this today, I’m sitting in Madison Wisconsin waiting to meet X2 so we can do some activities with kid 2 today.

Veronica and I hung out for a bit on Thursday evening as well. She had been out of town with her parents and sparkly for most of the week; we thought it would be a good idea to see each other before I went out of town myself.

We got into a couple of pretty heavy conversations. We were talking about relationships and marriage and the way marriage changes people. I I like the person I become, especially since my relationship next year ended. I said that I would be concerned about losing myself again, were I to get married or enter another long-term relationship.

It’s not as if I was saying to her I’m afraid to be your boyfriend“. I think she understood where I was coming from – in the way that only other divorcees can understand. In any event, a good conversation was had by all. 

Fleischman Is In Trouble is currently streaming on Hulu / Disney+

The novel Fleishman Is In Trouble is available on Amazon.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related (and perhaps, not-so-related) posts:

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The article “Rob reviews: Fleischman is in trouble (Hulu miniseries)” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.