That isn’t a problem for the Christine Quinns and Spencer Pratts of the world, who are happy to play the heel in return for money and attention. I’m not talking about so-called cancel culture so much as the fact that everyone in the public eye eventually becomes the subject of social media discourse, which tends to slot them into stock roles like hero and villain, try-hard and troublemaker, that can be tough to shake. The producers don’t even manage to get the whole cast in the same room with the kind of contrived social gatherings that fuel Real Housewives plots. They live separately, in Manhattan apartments whose rents young artists without readily apparent day jobs probably could not pay on their own, eliminating any opportunity to capture serendipitous late-night gossip sessions or confrontations. But what’s certain is that the cast doesn’t really function as a cast. Maybe it’s worth noting that Sophia, Taofeek, and Ebon are Black, while Ben, Fernando, and Claude are not. Maybe the more accomplished cast members had less incentive to open up. ![]() Even less developed is Ebon, who doesn’t get more than a few minutes of attention until episode 3. (Generous footage of one Head of State fashion show is easily The Come Up’s highlight.) Almost halfway through the first season, I still have yet to get a sense of who they are as people. Unfortunately, their story lines on the show are nowhere near as compelling as their work. He’s built an aesthetic and a brand around his childhood in Nigeria, she’s focused on reviving analogue photography in a digital era, and we see them bonding over their shared preference for Black models and subjects. This tale-as-old-as-time, new-kid-in-town story saps screen time from the two most evidently talented cast members: Taofeek and Sophia. And Claude Shwartz, a New York native who introduces herself as “a trans woman who wants to be an actress,” is playing sherpa to Ben Hard, a wannabe comedian fresh off the plane from Texas. When we meet model Fernando Casablancas, who happens to be the son of Elite Model Management founder John Casablancas and half-brother of the Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, he’s recovering from a rough breakup with an even more famous model. Ebon Gore has found her people in the queer nightlife community, where Black trans organizers like herself are ascendant. Taofeek Abijako launched his buzzy fashion label, Head of State, while still in high school. ![]() Sophia Wilson is an in-demand photographer struggling to balance high-profile assignments with NYU coursework. 13 with a four-episode block that will start streaming on Hulu the next morning, embodies everything cool and subversive about a generation that is just now coming into its own. At first glance, the cast of The Come Up, which premiered Sept.
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