'Huge in France' should consider fleshing out its women characters for season two
Netflix series 'Huge in France' is a semi-satirical comedy starring Gad Elmaleh, Matthew Del Negro, Errin Hayes, and Jordan Ver Hoeve, which revolves around comedian Gad Elmaleh moving from France, where he is "huge", to the US, where nobody recognizes him, to rekindle his relationship with his son Luke.
The show that is loosely based on Gad's own life focuses on him struggling to get back into Luke's and Vivian's lives, while also plotting to get Vivian's present partner and the man Luke considers his "real father", Jason Alan Ross, out of their lives.
While the men on the show, like Gad, Jake, Luke, and Gad's assistant Brian, are relatively well-developed characters, the same cannot be said for its female characters.
The women in 'Huge in France' — even Vivian who is central to the plot — are skeletal caricatures with sparse detailing and layers.
The motivation for their actions are mostly limited to money, sex, and fame — be it Gad's many sexual encounters in France who apparently said he was great in bed just because he was famous, or the woman he meets at his hotel in LA (happens to be the hotel's owner), who, firstly, gets hysterical in an extremely high-pitched about him approaching her at the poolside and calls him a stalker for this, but later on, after finding out Gad is a famous comedian in France, is suddenly completely fine with his behavior.
Vivian, a character important to the plot, is an author and social media presence who does well for herself and Luke. But she is a perfectionist and control freak who tries to control the men in her life; at the end of season one, we see her telling Gad exactly how to respond to her while she vented out. Vivian easily replaced Jason with Gad after their relationship that lasted almost a decade and the remorse is caricatured too, in contrast to Gad's and Jason's emotions that are portrayed with much more earnestness.
James, who is Luke's best friend Zene's girlfriend whom he also has a crush on, serves as eye-candy and helps portray the strained friendship Luke and Zene share. Zene and James are almost always making out on the show, and she barely even makes the 'trophy girlfriend' trope.
Brian, Gad's assistant on the show, dates an older woman who attends Vivian's 'Exhale' retreat. Madison, who was charmed by Brian's silly humor, is tailor-made to fit into the 'cougar' stereotype. Brian runs errands for her, while she makes decisions for him. The first time they meet, Madison makes a move on Brian and the two end up having sex in his car. The relationship is shown to have come to an end as Madison cries about Brian stealing her credit cards, and tells Vivian that she never should have left the retreat.
While a second season has not been officially confirmed, stars have said that it could be a possibility.
So, for the second season, the show might want to consider fleshing out its female characters, giving them motivation and arcs that revolve around more than just money, sex or fame.