Season 1 - 10 episodes (2011)
Season 2 - 8 episodes (2013)
Rent Enlightened on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Mike White, Laura Dern
Starring: Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Sarah Burns, Luke Wilson, Timm Sharp, Mike White, Jason Mantzoukas
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
A self-destructive woman has a spiritual awakening, becoming determined to live an enlightened life while creating havoc at home and work.
Verdict
It's a neat idea that we explore through a very annoying character. Amy causes havoc in every episode by trying to improve herself, others, or her company. When things don't go her way, she reacts poorly. She is that annoying person that thinks they have it together and wants to tell you how to live. While it's easy for the audience to empathize with her frustrations at times, Amy doesn't realize that she is the problem that needs to be fixed. It's main character syndrome. Somehow she thinks every situation should involve or is about herself. It's difficult to like a character that's so self centered and in complete denial about their own issues. She makes life more difficult for everyone she encounters.
Skip it.
Review
A sequence of self-destructive behavior leads to Amy (Laura Dern) having a complete breakdown at work. It's embarrassing, but after treatment she is excited to return to work. Amy really thinks everything will be back to normal and she can resume her life as it was before. Unfortunately for her, her company doesn't trust her. She's put in the data entry department as the company can't fire her.
Amy thinks she has it together with a new lease on life and a desire to improve the world. She wants to help everyone around her, but the thing is they don't want her help and don't desire to change. Amy is that annoying person that can't stop talking about their life, what's changed, and how great everything is. She wants to push that feeling onto everyone else. The problem is that everyone knows Amy doesn't have her life together. She seems to be the only person that doesn't realize it.
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| Laura Dern plays Amy |
Mot of us know the feeling of wanting more, feeling broken, or feeling isolated. We can identify with that, but Amy thinks the only way to fix it is to follow her advice. She makes nearly every situation worse believing only she can fix it. Her intentions are good to a degree, but a lot of her energy is for self promotion. She's never content; wanting to improve herself, others, and every situation. Everything she does is self serving despite her proclamations.
It's not a bad show, but the main character is frustrating. I would have stopped at just one season but it ends on a cliff hanger, and I wanted to see the fallout from the last episode of the first season.
Season two has Amy wanting to take down her company out of revenge. Tyler (Mike White) helps as he's lonely and Amy is not only pretty but shows an interest in him. Amy is convinced her company is doing something wrong, but that's more wishful thinking and wanting to impress people by being the martyr that brought them down. It turns out the company actually is doing something wrong, but several relationships complicate motivations and alliances.
From the beginning, Amy bristles at not being the top priority in everyone's life. She can't help but brag about anything she thinks might impress people. That's the joke of this series, Amy only thinks she is enlightened. She's still self destructive and selfish. Throughout the series, she's just a few bad moments away from another breakdown. While she strives to appear moralistic, those morals falter when she finds a situation that could be beneficial.
It comes down to Amy feeling morally superior to everyone when she's not. We know people like this, someone who wants to provide life advice when their own life is in shambles. While this show has a lot of truth, I just don't like Amy and that makes this show a tough watch.
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