BIFL is crowdfunding right now for their second season! This crowdfunding Kickstarter campaign ends on Saturday, November the 13th, 2021 at 8:59 AM CET. So if this blog makes you watch season 1, and you like it, you can help them out to reach their goal. So we can enjoy a second season!
That is why I am writing this now, so you know about it in time.
I’ll add some information from their site on how they describe stuff because it is very clear.
and after that, I’ll describe it in my words.
Spoiler alert
Now, before I get into it… I can not promise you that I won’t give spoilers, so if you don’t want any, you should just go watch it yourself right away. {maybe read this blog after ;) }
here is a link for you.
What is BIFL Described by BIFL
The following information is from the BIFL website, so you can find it there,
they themselves describe it as follows:
“BIFL is a comedic web series (with a lot of drama) created by and for a wide variety of LGBTQIA+ identities. The series is about intersectionality grounded in meaningful, real-life situations; both behind and in front of the camera, it's about our communities being seen and heard.
BIFL is expectations, different shades of intimacy, and what it really means to love someone. Blood family versus found family and how toxic relationships can both manifest and disguise themselves. How identities intersect, how labels can matter but don't have to, and how perception isn't always reality.”
Characters
Fun fact: There are fun videos on the website made by the actors as an introduction.
Jill {she/her} played by Anisha Adusumilli Uncomfortable, bi, might be in love with her best friend. Tries her best, but awkwardly. People pleaser, avoids confrontation at almost any cost. A total dork when she tries to be cool.
Sarah {They/Them} played by Mandahla Rose
Non-binary ace lesbian. No bullshit. Zumba and fashion enthusiast. A leader in every situation. Like a koala: Small, surprisingly vicious, and you just want to squeeze them.
Chloe {she/her} played by Andrea Nelson
Literal sunshine. Shares her Netflix password. Jill's best friend and unabashed extrovert. Would definitely punch a clown for you. A human in puppy dog form; she has great intentions, and is completely naive to the damage she sometimes does.
Taylor {she/her} played by Elizabeth Peterson
Sarcastic, smart as hell, and tired of your shit. Is struggling under the weight of an overbearing sister and a recent breakup. Always honest, even when it's harsh. She deals with her anxiety by lashing out.
Oliver {he/him} played by Michael Sasaki
Aromantic bi, Sarah's platonic best friend, & might be made of actual gold. The best human. Can be trusted with anything, is always there with a non-judgemental ear and a brownie. Or five.
Matt {he/him} played by Philip Orazio
Oliver's roommate and the well-intentioned white, cis straight man who tries his best but often falls short. Is totally loveable, utterly annoying, and often unaware how hurtful his ignorance can be.
Beth {she/her}played by Haviland Stillwel
Taylor's preppy, overbearing and micro-managing sister. She loves Taylor dearly, and doesn't understand why she just can't "think happy thoughts" and feel better. Beth hides her own emotions under a veneer of perfectionism.
Kyle {he/him} played by Christopher Dietrick
Life-sized can of Axe body spray. Attracted to most things with legs. Prefers action to talking- what's the point? Straight-forward, confident, knows what he wants. It's probably a good time. And sex. Definitely sex.
creative Team
Daren Taylor,director {he/him}
Kelsey O’regan. writer {they/them}
Amber Rivera, producer {she/her}
Jill Rivera, editor {she/they}
How do I describe and view this show?
There are 6 episodes, and I was invested from the start!
It’s truly amazing how much they were able to show in 6 short episodes.
But I have truly fallen in love with this series.
Something I noticed is that they really amplify the character’s identity by showing it on screen for each character, their pronouns and sexuality.
It shows it is a very queer series, about roommates and how their identities look in daily life.
There are a lot of dynamics between the roommates, which I’ll get into now.
How I viewed the characters.
Jill struggles with falling in love with her best friend Chloe.
Chloe is such a good friend to Jill, she has the best intentions but does not see how much Jill is in love with her and doesn’t see the damage she does.
Matt really wants to be a good Ally but messes up or unintentionally hurts someone…
There is a new roommate called Taylor, and she is dealing with a breakup, anxiety and has a hard time connecting to such a close group of people, but with Jill in particular.
Sarah is a leader type, maybe even a bit of a parent-friend. Some others really go to them when they need someone. Sarah is such a badass and has an amazing platonic best friendship with Oliver.
Oliver is Aromantic and that is like the most underrepresented thing ever. He is the absolute softest and sweetest character, and very misunderstood by many.
You also have Beth, the overbearing and overprotective sister of Taylor who really says the wrong things to Taylor, sometimes not realizing how unhelpful it is, but meaning everything in the best way for Taylor.
Lastly, you have Kyle, and I’ll be honest as a sex-repulsed asexual, I couldn’t really find any connection with this character. He seems to be just mostly into sex. He is however a very confident person.
I absolutely love Sarah, they are such an amazing representation of asexuality. I love them because they are so fierce, and they are like the leader of this group of people.
Many of them go to Sarah to talk, and Sarah really takes no bullshit.
As someone who is into acting, I absolutely love this thing they do with their hand to quiet everyone down. Asexuality often gets represented as very shy or as someone who falls out of the group. But with Sarah, they show how awesome asexual people are.
I also really love seeing the bond Sarah and Oliver have, Oliver is bi and aro, and Sarah is an ace lesbian. These identities are very underrepresented in the media, especially the aromantic part, which I’m glad to see in this show.
{I’m not aromantic so if you want to know if the representation of it is good, you should ask aromantic people}
What I love about Sarah and Oliver’s bond is their platonic best friendship. Matt is really trying to push them together, not realizing how Oliver and Sarah feel about that. I do feel like allo people often really push the idea of relationships and sex and how that makes your life complete.
This bond really shows you how you don’t need these and that platonic relations are also very valuable.
I think the reason Sarah and Oliver speak out to me is that I really want a friendship, a platonic relation like they have.
I do have some friends but none of this level. Also, something I've been having an identity crisis about recently is if maybe I am demi- biromantic asexual. I have noticed that the people I was romantically attracted to were all people I had an emotional bond with first. I also am not the kinda person that feels I need a romantic or sexual relationship to have a fulfilled life, and that I have romanticized relationships in my head because society teaches us that. But the feeling of wanting an amazing platonic relationship, that feeling really came up when watching them.
Another character that speaks to me a lot is Taylor, she is the new roommate.
She deals with mental health, anxiety in particular. Also, she is dealing with a break-up.
She has a rocky start when she moves in and seems to have a bit of a hard time connecting with this really close group of people.
I think the reason this character speaks to me a lot has a lot to do with the mental health part. I am in therapy for depression and am at this moment getting tested for autism. Furthermore, I’ve dealt with mental health issues, and seeing a character like Taylor is really important. Especially in this time when many more people have to deal with mental health due to the pandemic.
I’ve always wished we could all just be more open about mental health, instead of struggling in silence. A major issue is social media where everyone is always showing their happiest moments, yet when someone posts about bad days or mental health it is often seen as attention-seeking and not taken seriously. I really want that to change, so seeing a show getting into mental health makes me happy.
Another thing I like about Taylor is that she seems a bit more introverted, now I don’t know if that is because she is the new roommate but as an introvert myself I just really relate to her, and I could see myself in her.
I also really started shipping Chloe and Jill from the start, so the final really makes me wonder what will happen between them. They have such a close friendship that I wonder what effect the final had on their bond. Also, because of what happens between Taylor and Jill.
I don’t really like Kyle, but I also feel like we haven’t seen much about him.
I kinda hope to see more of him, cause to me, he is just all about sex and doesn’t go much deeper than that, so I would love to see a deeper side of him.
Some of my favorite moments:
Taylor's anxiety attack: In episode 2 Taylor moves in and at some point in the episode she has an anxiety attack. It’s shown in a really good way and as I said before, mental health representation is really important to me. I also like that they didn’t overdramatize it, which often happens in shows.
I really loved this scene where they were planning a party because it shows how close their bond as a group is, how it is really like a family.
In the queer community, chosen family is a big thing, especially for queers who have family who don’t respect them. Choosing family is important, and I’m happy to see that back in this show.
There is this episode of a movie night and after Jill comes back from the toilet she makes sure to sit between Chloe and Kyle. The scene had me on the floor laughing because of how Jill goes about it.
Sarah helping Chloe pick an outfit was a fun scene because it makes you wonder if they are still talking about the clothes, which makes it kinda funny.
To be honest, I love every scene that shows the bond between Sarah and Oliver. It is just beautiful and very well played by the actors.
I also really liked the ending where you see Taylor and Jill laying in the tub fully clothed, falling asleep after making out. Most of the time in shows when people make out it always ends with the people naked, so I really was glad to see this ending for once.
The final in general made me really happy, now don’t get me wrong I love drama shows. However, I am very sensitive, so a lot of the time final episodes of drama shows kinda make me too emotional. I think that is because a lot of the time it shows really traumatizing events, think hospital shows with shootings or a show with an airplane crash. Those things are so intense that sometimes I get too emotional to watch the show.
This show is described as a comedy series with a lot of drama, so not really the drama genre. I think they nailed it when it comes to showing just enough drama but not too much. It’s toned down in a realistic way.
In season 2 I really hope to see
They are crowdfunding for the next season, I really hope they reach their goals!
Here are some things I hope to see in season 2:
More about how some characters identify, some of the characters’ identities are unknown or unclear in season 1 when they get introduced. I am just curious to see their journeys to discovering that.
I’m also just wondering what’s going to happen the day after the final. A lot happened to a lot of people, and I just hope that all will be fine again.
I hope they can keep up the right balance of drama in the show since they did that very well in season 1.
As I said before, I don’t feel any connection to Kyle’s character, probably because I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and he is so much about sex, but I do really hope to see a deeper side of him.
I already love the character Sarah, but I would love to see more about their asexuality and how that shows for them.
Conclusion
I absolutely love this series and really want a second season to see what happens next.
Likewise, I would recommend this show to everyone to watch because there is something to relate to for everyone. They have found an amazing balance for the drama in this show, which makes me happy.
They represent multiple orientations and things like mental health.
There are a lot of open endings, so you just wonder what will happen.
It is a few short episodes, so it is a quick watch, but amazing how much they show in so little time.
Also, as an actor, I have to say I wish I could play on a cool show like this, you can see how much the actors enjoy playing their roles.
I think the creative team and the actors have really aced it on this show!
I really hope you are interested in watching BIFL now. Here is a link to watch it and find information about the show.
Here is also a link to the crowdfunding kickstarter.
Thank you for reading this blog,
you are acesome.
Be sure to give this blog a like, comment,
or even a share if you liked it.
I hope to see you back next time,
♤ The Ace Mind — Joëlle ♡
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*Blog Written by Joëlle AKA The Ace Mind
*I am not a professional, the things I write are pulled from my personal experiences or external resources.
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