Satvika Nitya / A&C Editor

Emotional wreckage, happy giggles and existential crises may seem like three emotions that can only exist separately. But Netflix’s new show “One Day” defies that expectation, giving you all three and more within one story told throughout 14 episodes.

Inspired by David Nicholls’ novel, which shares the same title, the show is categorized as a romantic drama that follows the story of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew over the span of 20 years. The show doesn’t just take the audience through time. Rather, it follows a unique format and limits their experience to one moment, or more specifically one day. 

Starting from the pilot episode that captures Emma and Dexter’s first encounter on July 15, 1988 when they spend one riveting evening together and go their separate ways the next morning, every episode that follows occurs on the same day of the next year, acting as a narrow window through which the viewers get to see both the characters’ lives for only those 24 hours. Instead of a slow growth and build up to current life events, each episode brings a rapid change of scenery, events, costumes, character looks and life events which adds an element of surprise that the audience is constantly playing catch-up with, and in turn, is always engaged.

It’s not just the pacing and format of the show that have made it the talk of the internet for the past month — it is also the content itself. The show takes the classic approach of a “will they won’t they,” as it follows Emma and Dexter’s friends-to-lovers story. That very plot choice makes the show enticing to watch, because the audience gets invested in the two characters right from the beginning, rooting for them to find their happy endings with one another. Over the 20 years that we spend with them, we see them be great friends and bad friends, have disagreements, falling outs, heartwarming moments and wholesome dialogue all while they fall in love.

Viewers from around the world have expressed their love for and reactions to the show through social media. Most of the videos shared are of people violently sobbing, warning others to beware of the gut-wrenching sadness that they are sure to feel too. 

After following and building up your world with Emma and Dexter, the audience reaches the end of their rollercoaster ride with a huge fall, since the climax of the show is heartbreaking. Especially since the show jumps through time in a very specific way, the shock of the ending hits viewers harder than the average tragedy. Without giving any spoilers, “One Day” helps people not just understand, but also feel the value of time, which is amplified ten-fold by the ending of the show, when the choice for only showing July 15 through the years becomes apparent.

Though there seems to be a consensus on the devastating nature of the ending of the show, the relationship between Dexter and Emma still has some contention among viewers. Some admire the bond that both the characters share, saying that Dexter and Emma had something that transcended love, and naming their relationship as just a romance reduces the intensity of their connection. Others believe that “One Day” showed a flawed relationship with rose-colored glasses and that there were aspects of the show that depicted unhealthy behaviors as normative.

USD junior Rayan Pal talked about his feelings regarding the show.

“I thought it was a good show start to finish, but a lot of my thoughts came after letting it sink in for a couple of days. That’s when I realized this should not be romanticized as much,” Pal said. “A lot of people say that they [Dexter and Emma] were the ‘right person, wrong time,’ but I believe that there’s no such thing as the wrong time with the right person. If they love each other, they should make it work. There were times in the show where they did things that were morally not okay and hurt other people in the process, and those things are romanticized, because everyone thinks ‘well, they’re going to get together someday.”

Outside the romantic aspects, which have become the leading theme of the show, “One Day” also deals with other sensitive topics that make the show relatable to a wider audience. There is a heavy storyline that follows Dexter’s experience handling his grief with substance abuse and other forms of self harm. 

We also see Emma navigating a life and career that is significantly less glamorous than her university experience. She has an extremely successful academic career during her time in college, riddled with big ambitions for her future and as the viewers follow her through the years, they see the lows and highs that Emma faces in the professional world. 

Since we see both Emma and Dexter manage these obstacles, as they’re also managing being there for one another, we see something that many people are all too familiar with: the loss and regaining of connection with people that have been there for you either physically, mentally or metaphorically.

USD senior Briana Guardado talked about how she related to the different characters.

“I definitely did not see it as a rom com. Maybe at first, but then you start to see the development of Dexter and Emma. There is so much more to the show than just the romantic part of it,” Guardado said. “You can immediately tell that this is not a rom-com, it’s life. In many ways, I found myself relating to Emma and her situation, with going through school with all these high hopes and then ending up working in a job that you don’t like. The show showed life and how you go through all these losses and downward spirals, but the people you have matters.” 

Another aspect of the show that received some backlash was the casting choices. The show “One Day” is the successor to an already successful movie adaptation of the book, which came out in 2011, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. The biggest difference that the show made in terms of casting choices was to hire a South Asian actress, Ambika Mod, to play Emma. Since the news of Mod’s casting was released, many people criticized the casting choice, saying that Mod was unfit to play the role of Emma. This has brought into discussion how having a brown actress as a lead in a role that has nothing to do with her race will always bring up harsher criticisms of the actress’ performance and appearance.

USD first-year Priya Hecox discussed her experience watching the show as a South Asian woman.

“It healed something in me. Growing up, I always thought that I was pretty but never pretty enough for a white man. That they would always be into the blondes and the girls that the shows said I should look like,” Hecox said. “Watching Ambika Mod play Emma made me so happy, because she played the role so perfectly and carried out the storyline so well. We’ve had representation recently through shows like ‘Never Have I Ever,’ and I’m grateful for that, but seeing this and watching a South Asian woman have a role that is independent of her race makes me happy.”

This sentiment has resonated with others who have defended Mod’s performance in the show, complimenting the ease with which she played Emma. Clearly, the ratings thought so too. Since the show’s release on Feb. 8, it has consistently been one of the top watched shows on Netflix across 75 countries, amassing over 35 million views. If you haven’t watched it yet and are in need of a show that makes you lovesick, “One Day” may be for you.

A still from the only scene in the series not set on a July 15 where Emma and Dexter spend Christmas in 1988 at Dexter’s parents’ house in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo courtesy of @therichmondreviewer/Instagram