Capsule #107 ft. Paul Aaron

Hello hello,

Hope your weeks have been good! Feeling very this:

In today’s issue, I’ve invited my colleague Circe to share her thoughts on Too Much, the new Lena Dunham show. I think Circe is like a lot of us - a die-hard Girls fan who couldn’t believe her luck when Too Much was announced. But then the reality of watching the new show was a little different…

In the rest of the issue, you will find: a Hot & Not from Paul Aaron, an awesome emerging designer who recently dressed Kylie Jenner, news you may have missed this week, and recs for your weekend ahead.

Have a good one!

Holly x

Expecting Too Much

Every time I’ve spoken to friends about Netflix’s new release Too Much, I’ve felt the need to preface it with, “Look, I’m a huge Lena Dunham fan.” Because what comes next feels almost blasphemous to say, especially coming from someone who’s watched Girls in its entirety no less than five times, but: the show didn't work for me.

The context of loving Girls is crucial, because it’s exactly the problem that I (along with many others, I’ve found) have had - coming to Too Much expecting the same experience.

Though her debut was actually the 2010 film Tiny Furniture, Dunham really cut her teeth in TV. That’s putting it lightly. With Girls, she launched an enduring and influential show, filling the hole left by Sex and the City with a knotty and raw story of female friendship for a new generation. Her writing was progressive, giving us an ensemble whose lives were less idealised or aspirational, pushing back against the polished femininity we were fed elsewhere (see: the outfits, careers and money of SATC). In a recent interview, Dunham said, “We weren’t going, this is what a young woman’s life should look like”. It was satire that didn’t need to hold a mirror directly to our lives to still bring them into view.

Dunham has had a lot on since then (books, movies, more TV shows), but Too Much has been the most anticipated of her subsequent works because of its parallels with Girls. On the surface, the show seems familiar: it features similar themes (heartbreak, complicated dynamics and messy leads), and has a semi-autobiographical concept (the show is loosely based on Dunham’s real-life romance with Luis Felber, who co-created the show). These aspects, plus exciting casting (Meg Stalter finally getting her main character moment), made Too Much the first project in a while to galvanise Dunham fans en masse. But I’ve found it pretty much impossible to watch the show without the shadow of Girls coming in and obscuring the view a little, highlighting what isn't there. Where Girls completely absorbs you, Too Much rolls right off in 30 to 50-minute chunks.

We know Dunham is deft at building fully realised characters. So much so that in Girls, it’s easy to believe that those are lives lived, even when they’re not on screen. We watch the show and see the messier aspects of our personality reflected back: everybody thinks they know a Marnie (that overbearing friend who’s as judgmental as they are insecure), and someone who insists they’re a Jessa (living an impulsive party girl life laced with cynicism). Zosia Mamet, who plays Shoshanna in the show, has said that though she never thinks of her characters as entities, Shoshanna felt real: “I thought of her as my weird cousin that I loved and didn’t understand.” And then there are the Hannah girls: in denial about our main character energy but desperate for the self-awareness to kick in before we speak. 

Too Much, by contrast, presents us with surface-level generalisations: British people love ket, Jaffa Cakes and Paddington. We roll ciggies and talk in riddles. But that’s about it. When an episode ends, the characters feel like strangers, floating about somewhere in the vicinity of Hackney. Felix’s friends (who are mostly named Polly), for example, are so cartoonishly mean and/or vacant that it’s tough to picture them actually interacting with each other.

The show is not all bad, and certainly has its moments. Stalter is hilarious as the lead, Jessica, and you’d be lucky to encounter her in a London pub. There are also some of those real Dunham-esque lines (Jessica’s grandma trying to comfort her with “you’ve got a lot of spirit,” or this whole scene) and observations (those pub toilets in the Ivy House) peeking through. As a low-stakes Netflix second-screen show watched with fresh eyes, it’s more than enough. But it’s not the second coming of Girls, which many of us hoped for.

In conversations with friends after watching, one common denominator has often been tabled in response to our reviews: Netflix. While the OG streaming platform introduced us to some of the most talked-about shows of the past decade (Stranger Things, Wednesday, Bridgerton), its inevitable enshittification has seen titles go downhill in recent years. Squid Game, for example, was a wildfire hit - its first season is the most popular thing on Netflix ever - but it concluded this summer on a sour note.

The streamer’s quantity over quality mission is explicit and unique. In 2024, Netflix released a staggering 589 new original series, and that sheer output is still working to some extent (its subscriber numbers still massively trump those of other platforms). But its competitor, Apple TV+ (which has made fewer than 200 shows since launching), has dominated this year’s Emmy nominations, showing that, even in a streaming age, the appetite remains for a well-crafted show.

With Too Much, Netflix seems to cast too wide a net, ironically making the show itself way too much. We jump from storyline to storyline - the career, the fast-moving relationship, the move, the family - but none hit the depth that you’d hope for. There are glimpses into the lives of Jessica’s co-workers and new friends, but all are too fleeting and underdeveloped to serve any sort of purpose. Jokes are overexplained (think the never-ending ‘estates’ gag: done to death on its first go, but somehow rolled out again and again), like the producers are winking after the punchline to make sure we get it. And the famous cameos, something Netflix is known for (see: Sex Education), feel like a tool to keep the audience interested, hinting towards a lack of faith in the show’s substance alone.

The effort to engage a mass audience might work for Netflix’s sprawling agenda, but it means Too Much’s core viewers, which I’d argue are women in their late 20s and early 30s, fail to have their needs fully met. The closest we get is in Jessica’s (relatable) hatred of her ex’s new partner (played by Emily Ratajkowski), and her desire to warn and befriend her. Though that thread comes to a semi-satisfying head and conclusion, it’s so suffocated by everything else that’s going on that it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. 

Maybe this content bloat is a case of risk aversion, a strategy to dodge some of the criticism that has been thrown at Girls over the years (mostly that it only represents an insular, white feminist perspective). But it’s one that has made Too Much underwhelming. In a dream world, Netflix would have confidence in a celebrated writer and director, leaving her to create art for her chosen audience and trusting that others will enjoy the work on its own terms.

It’s fair to say I was disappointed by Too Much, but I won’t be writing off Dunham’s work any time soon. In the grand scheme of a career in the arts, there is space for a variety of outputs (having a bit of a flop era feels like a rite of passage, and one that opens up the floor for an unexpected comeback). The idea that a creative is only as valuable as the reviews of their latest work is reductive. I'd rather live in a world where we can discuss the highs and lows, and nurture a culture that allows people to experiment and try a variety of paths. In the case of Too Much, I think there is ultimately a stroke of Dunham’s genius in its nucleus, but that the raw diamond was over polished by producers who deem it too risky to hone in on a niche audience or rely on the old creative adage “show don’t tell.” 

I am still very much sat for the next wave of Dunham’s work, which includes the movie Good Sex, due for release soon. The lasting power of Girls is enough to convince her legion of fans to tune in - I just hope we can be trusted to get it on our own.

By Circe Hughes

✉ Share your thoughts by hitting reply to this email ✉

And finally…

News you may have missed this week:

• Saint Laurent got Kate Moss and Chloë Sevigny for their new campaign

• Hayley Williams surprise dropped a new album (full of breakup songs 🥲). Knew something was up when she covered ‘I Miss You’ by Beyoncé last week 🥲

• London is getting a Phoebe Philo store

• Chappell wearing vintage Jean Paul Gaultier to the Mayhem Ball…now that’s respecting your predecessors

• Can you tell Demi Lovato now has the same stylist as Charli xcx? If not there, then certainly here

• You literally could not write the story of Katy Perry’s life

• Suki making us feel like autumn is coming…

• …Bella Hadid reminding us that it’s still summer…

• …And Lorde emphasising the importance of having some time off!

• The new Skims shapewear for your face has not landed well

• Pleased to see Jenna Ortega killing it again with the Wednesday promo looks: here in Ann Demeulemeester, here in Ashi Studio, and here in Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood

• And finally, totally obsessed with Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson getting flustered talking about their relationship 🥺

This week, Paul Aaron popped into Capsule to share what’s 🔥hot🔥 and what’s not 🙅‍♀️…

Paul is a fashion knitwear and textile designer, creating one-of-one pieces he could never afford to buy himself. You might recognise his designs from this recent look worn by Kylie Jenner, or Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers at Glastonbury.

📺 Watching: Hot Milk in the cinema, this great PinkPantheress medley on The Tonight Show, and this lovely Digging With Clairo interview.

📖 Reading: This great documentation of the bob across New York, featuring 30 people and their different takes on the hairstyle of the moment, plus this piece from The Atlantic on why marriage is making a comeback after the pandemic.

🎧 Listening to: The new Hayley Williams songs (if you’re feeling quite TGIF, start with ‘Whim’), Lifetime, the latest release from Erika de Casier, Emily Sundberg on Nymphet Alumni, and ‘A-Lister’ by Romy Mars, a very internet song that’s hard to forget.

Just in from Chloe: “babydoll top is now being searched more than ever, and “hollister 2000s collection” is the top trending related search. If you used to wear one of these, it would be an awesome time to a) give it a second spin or b) pop it on Vinted…

If you’d like to adopt Chloe or one of her friends, click here to learn more.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear how you’re finding Capsule - let me know here. And if you have a friend who might like it, do refer them! 🥺

See you next week 💋

In some of the products we recommend, we may earn a small affiliate commission. We only ever recommend things we genuinely like and would buy, and this small revenue driver goes directly towards keeping Capsule going. Thank you for the support. 🫶