“A Man on the Inside,” starring Ted Danson as “Charles” and directed by Michael Schur, has impressed many, including myself. The series focuses on a retired professor coping with his wife’s death. He finds a job ad for a spy at a private detective agency, throwing him into new situations, new problems, and a new purpose.
In fact, purpose is an essential part of the series’ theme. I think the best quote in the entire show was said by Stephanie Beatriz, the actor of Didi.
“For the majority of seniors, the threat to their well-being isn’t an accident or health. It’s loneliness,” Didi said.
Often the largest threat to Charles and other elderly characters isn’t the health concerns that come with aging but needing purpose and friendship. Charles is able to find both while searching for a stolen necklace at a retirement home, but not all of his new friends are as fortunate.
That’s what really makes this story so incredible; it isn’t only about Charles; it is about Charles and the entirety of the retirement home. Every character has a story that unfolds during Charles’s hilarious investigation. In fact, most of the episodes focus on a specific side character alongside Charles.
One of these characters was Didi, the manager at the retirement home who works tirelessly to keep things running. The way they portrayed this character is so amazing to me; they perfectly made a character who lives and breathes their job. Shur used a really cool way of showing this when Didi gets a coffee; through many different work obstacles, she never ends up drinking it, which I found to be a great way to show she has no time for herself.
While this is a great series, there are some parts that didn’t sell it for me. For instance, I felt the humor was a little off. It felt like it was trying to be a comedic show, but ended up feeling a little empty at times, usually when elderly stereotypes were over played.
I also felt like the first few episodes were less interesting. Not that they felt empty or disorganized, but by the end of the second episode, it still felt like there was no big obstacle, which really was caused by how little the main goal was forced on the viewer. It was obviously the main objective to find the thief, but it felt like the goal got forgotten throughout the story, giving it less structure.
In the end, beneath the laughs, it’s a sad truth and a wake-up call to how society neglects the elderly. While America is youth-obsessed and trying to forget about their retirement days, “A Man on the Inside” asks the question: What do you do when you are past the age of having a job and caring for a family?
