REVIEW: ‘FIREFLY LANE’
We have been in quarantine for a year. Naturally, I have watched pretty much everything on Netflix. I re-watched my personal favorites––New Girl, Parks and Recreation and Madame Secretary––and binged The Crown. My latest addiction: Firefly Lane. After watching Ratched and attempting to add excitement to my understandably monotonous COVID-life, it was nice to switch to something a little more lighthearted. I traded Nurse Ratched’s mental asylum for the crisp Oregon air alongside my new best friends, Tully and Kate.
I was first drawn to the show because of Katherine Heigl (AKA Izzie Stevens from Grey’s Anatomy). But the rest of the cast and heartwarming plot pleasantly surprised me.
Based on a novel by Kristin Hannah, Firefly Lane follows two best friends—Tully Hart (Heigl) and Kate Mularkey (Sarah Chalke)—throughout their childhood and into their day-to-day adult lives. The show is set in the 2000s and combines elements of Netflix originals and Hallmark rom-coms.
Heigl brings her Grey’s dramatic experience to the table and adds an extra layer to the show. Although watching two best friends is nice, it can get boring fast. Without the dramatic twists and turns in both Tully and Kate’s lives, the show would fall flat.
Each with their own quirks, Tully and Kate follow the cookie-cutter plot-line as best friends. Tully, whose mother is an addict, basically raised herself and adopts the cool girl trope while Kate, the nerd, comes from a dependable and loving household. They quickly become inseparable and like family.
And what’s a TV show about two best friends without a little romantic drama? Netflix has to keep things spicy and bring in a love interest. Johnny Mularkey (Ben Lawson) will 100 percent steal you away with his Australian accent.
If Grey's Anatomy and Fuller House had a baby, it would be Firefly Lane. You get drama and romance and fun and suspense all in one and it’s perfect. It’s as lighthearted and silly as a sitcom, but also as wholesome and cheesy as a rom-com.
The last scene of the 10-episode series ends with a cliffhanger that sets the stage for a second season. But it hasn’t been picked up by Netflix quite yet.
Firefly Lane gave me exactly what I needed. Tully and Kate pulled me out of the mental asylum with Nurse Ratched and out of the royal bubble in The Crown. Now, instead of daydreaming about having my morning tea with the Queen and her corgis, I will be dreaming about becoming Tully and Kate’s third wheel and plotting my path to steal Johnny’s heart.