One Day.... it was never just one drink
One Day.... it was never just one drink
"Nothing good ever comes of it", Dexter, on alcohol.
It’s beautiful, isn’t it. One Day. On Netflix. A glorious adaptation of the orange novel everyone was reading quite early on in my London life. Multiples of the same paperback were on each tube line, in each handbag, tucked in every backpack. My mate Sarah hated it. I loved it, and read it fast, then went back and read ‘Starter for 10’, also by David Nichols, which is lovely too. Go read that if, like me, you feel bereft that you’ve finished the show.
And then to get it back again, this beautiful story, told by excellent actors, who look and sound just right and are Dexter and Emma. It’s been such a gift over a rainy half term, in dark and damp February. When I started watching it, the daffs weren’t out, and now they are. The blossom on the trees, too. It feels like it’s got me through February.
The whole internet is talking about it. We all have our own version of One Day - the one who got away, the friend turned something more, the epic love story. As my friend
As well as the brilliant acting, the compelling characters, the plot twists and the gorgeous locations, there is a lot of booze. There are a lot of night outs. There’s a burgeoning career in media. I was never going to be a TV presenter, but that’s a lot of similarities with my 20s. One scene in particular I found quite hard. I’m 5 years (almost!) sober, but seeing Dexter enjoy a glass (a bottle!) of rosé with his mum on an Italian terrace looked MAGICAL. The glass, the sunset, the company, the atmosphere. I could almost taste it. It felt quite bittersweet to watch it, knowing that I’ve (rightly) made the decision not to involve alcohol in any future terrace moments in my life. At that short moment, I felt like I was missing out. Storytelling can do that to you.
Thank you then, for the next episode. No spoilers to say that Dex has a mega hangover, and goes back home to his parent’s house. He passes out in his childhood bedroom, his dad is mighty mad, and it showed very clearly the other side of the rosé-on-a-terrace coin. Leo Woodall, who plays Dexter, brought to life the foggy feeling, the furry mouth, the need for sleep, the banging headache, the urge for yet more drink, and the shame and disappointment that comes with a truly bad hangover. I could feel the dry eyes, the itchy skin, the cloud around him.
Later on in the show, Dex says ‘nothing good ever comes of it.’ He’s referring to alcohol. Like Dex, I know that for every magical wine-on-a-terrace moment (in which, frankly, I could have been drinking icy cold Orangina out of a glass bottle, which everyone knows is THE BEST DRINK to have on the continent), there is a hangover-at-your-parents’-house counter moment. In my experience, for every soon-forgotten high, there is a deep, dark, low. This is a beautiful love story to watch - it really is, stop everything, cancel your evening plans, and watch it - but it’s also a beautiful evolution of a relationship with alcohol. No spoilers here.
And my story…. it’s not so romantic. But it’s not so boozy any more. I got the love. I have left the dark days (and the hangovers, and the apologies, and the shame and the disappointment…) behind. That’s all we really want for our lead characters, after all.
