TV-MA | 9 episodes | Drama, Comedy, Crime, Mystery | 2025
Having no connection whatsoever to the 1998 movie of the same name, show runner Jonathan Tropper’s comedic drama series “Your Friends & Neighbors” [“Neighbors”] is unlike anything I’ve ever seen on TV.
The series mixes elements of “To Catch a Thief,” “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968 and 1999), “Ocean’s Eleven” (1960 and the 2001 remake), and, oddly enough, “Desperate Housewives.” “Neighbors” is a slow-burn morality tale presenting multiple ethical conundrums.
For example, how satisfying is acquiring great wealth if it erodes your soul in the process? Is it possible to do something completely legal yet inherently wrong? Or maybe, it is acceptable to rob from rich people who acquired their wealth via questionable loopholes?
Tropper (“Banshee,” “Warrior,” “See”) and his writers and directors address these questions and several others over the course of nine episodes. Some of their answers are long in arriving and a few are left open to interpretation message-wise. However, all of them challenge the viewer’s personal understanding of what is good and what is bad.
No More High Life
Living in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Westchester, the second-richest per-capita income county in the New York area, Jack was a high-end hedge-fund advisor. Based on the size of his now former mansion and opulent possessions, Coop had an income in the middle seven figures. But he now rents what most people would regard as a middle-class family starter home he shares with his folk singer sister Ali (Lena Hall).
Trooper’s most brilliant move here was in casting Hamm as Coop. An actor with dashing and chiseled movie star looks, a commanding baritone voice, and surprisingly wide rage, Hamm is able to project undeniable likeability and charm even when playing characters with ethically squishy traits (“Mad Men,” “Landman”).
This is essential because, like the male lead characters in the movies mentioned earlier above, Coop is a thief. Unlike Cary Grant, Steve McQueen, Pierce Brosnan, and George Clooney in those same films, Hamm’s Coop doesn’t steal out of greed, but rather to maintain the appearance of being rich and keeping his now-fractured family used to their one percent lifestyle.
Stealing for any reason isn’t condonable, but Coop is doing so from people drowning in obscene wealth somehow makes it more palatable. And there is the rub. Ask yourself: Did you want the Grant, McQueen, Brosnan, and Clooney characters to succeed (out of greed) in those movies? If your answer is no, you should probably avoid “Neighbors.”
Unneeded Filler
With a running time of just under nine hours, “Neighbors” suffers the same fate of some other recent premium cable shows: it’s occasionally repetitive and overlong. Subplots including Coop’s two teen children, Ali, and his close friend-financial advisor Barney (Hoon Lee) should have been truncated or jettisoned. The nine episodes could have easily been whittled down to seven without any narrative sacrifice.
What could have used more exploration is the relationship between Coop and Sam (Olivia Munn), a neighbor he begins seeing romantically after his divorce is final, which is before the start of the series.
Perhaps the most interesting character (besides Coop) is Elena (Aimee Carrero), the Dominican-born housekeeper of Mel and her new, live-in, ex-NBA boyfriend Nick (Mark Tallman). With details too twisty and juicy to reveal here, Elena has the resources to make Coop’s thievery easier to pull off; but in doing so, it makes him more susceptible to being identified.
I hope I’m wrong about the under-developed sub-plots for the children, Ali, and Barney. All of Tropper’s previous ventures as show runner lasted three seasons or longer and “Neighbors” could easily get better as it progresses. There are enough enticing and dangling threads here to fully warrant more.
The fact that Apple TV+ has already green-lit the show for a second season (before the first has even started) is a great sign and an indicator of the studio’s overall confidence in the project.
