The Pitch: Think of the worst vacation you have ever been on. Were your accommodations not what they appeared to be online? Was there an awkward air of tension between you and whoever you were vacationing with? Well, whatever the answer to this hypothetical question may be, it probably wasn’t “stumbling across a potential murder mystery while navigating your own crumbling romance.”
However, that’s certainly the vacation that the central protagonists of The Resort, which has its three-episode premiere on Peacock on July 28, are having. Created by Palm Springs screenwriter Andy Siara and executive produced by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, what starts off as a seemingly straightforward story quickly turns into something far stranger than what these two couples were expecting. If you come into The Resort thinking that it’s about one thing, you’ll quickly realize that it’s only a small piece of the overall puzzle. However, this mystery is unwound in a way that is both narratively intriguing and visually stunning at times.
Trouble in Paradise: While this pitch-black comedy might draw some comparisons to HBO’s similarly tropical The White Lotus at first glance, the show unravels itself as something else entirely, anchored by the chemistry of stars William Jackson Harper and Cristin Milioti as sardonic millennials trying to rekindle their romantic spark in the strangest way possible.
The Resort tells two different stories split over 15 years but interconnected in the strangest of ways. In 2022, married couple Emma (Milioti) and Noah (Harper) are visiting the Mayan Riviera for their 10th anniversary. Emma feels conflicted about staying with her beau, with hints being made of a shared trauma that might have forever changed their relationship.
After an ATV accident in a nearby jungle, she finds an old Motorola phone, thrusting her and Noah into an investigation involving the disappearance of cartoonist Sam (Skyler Gisondo) and former hockey player Violet (Nina Bloomgarden) in 2007. Throw in a mysterious family, a resort-destroying hurricane, and maybe something more otherworldly, and you have the ingredients for a twisty take on the crime subgenre.
We’re Going to Therapy, As a Couple: What really makes the show shine is the chemistry between Harper and Milioti, as the two feel like a couple with actual history between them, rather than just two television stars paired together. Their shared glances and conversations carry a comfortable weight, for better and for worse, making the audience really connect with Noah and Emma as the show continues. With every new detail that’s revealed about how they met and how they evolved as a couple, you feel a sense of happiness when they seem to reconcile and a sense of dread when they argue. While they have their own personalities apart from each other, both characters really seem to thrive together.
The Resort (Peacock)
Gisondo and Bloomgarden have similar chemistry, although this time it’s depicted as young love rather than a seasoned relationship. Sam and Violet find themselves rapidly growing closer after the former crashes into a tree while trying to swerve around the latter. They find themselves equally as lost and confused in the ensuing mystery in their time period, really bringing home the idea that they represent the early days of a relationship, while Noah and Emma represent the later years.
