Conversations with Friends Review: Relatable Characters Spark Moral Discussions (Season 1 Episodes 7-12)

Brilliantly, Hulu’s limited series Conversations with Friends ends openly, perhaps a statement on monogamy, the spontaneity and unpredictability of love, or the future that Frances has in front of her growing as a person. These themes deeply carry the series through to the end.

Once we make it through the 12 exasperated and emotionally-charged episodes of Conversations with Friends, we sit there in contemplation for a while. I’m still contemplating everything from the show, finishing it four days ago.  

There are times when the show drags, especially in the second half, a fault that the Sally Rooney adapted predecessor Normal People didn’t have. The fact is, the two novels are different, with Conversations with Friends dealing more with internal conflicts of Frances’ narration than external action toward the end.

The show honestly adapts the book’s plot, a book that deals with many conflicted emotions and flawed characters that don’t always make the right decisions.

Rooney is popular mostly among 20-something females. She’s successful because that age group, coinciding with Rooney’s own age in addition to her characters, finds comfort in the relatability of her flawed dynamic characters and the very real issues she makes central to the plot.

As the doctor in the show states, Frances’ health issues and her endometriosis diagnosis are common, affecting 1 in 10 women.

There’s a societal discourse underlining this plot point, drawing attention to the lack of diagnosis and understanding of endometriosis and women’s health in general. We see Frances’ understandable frustration when doctors keep telling her she’s fine and there’s nothing seriously wrong.

Regarding the characters, they are frustrating on purpose. Take Nick: the quiet, closed-off, passive almost-famous pretty boy. I touched on Nick’s struggles in my review of Conversations with Friends Season 1 Episodes 1-6, but it is incredible to see the development of how the characters discuss mental health in the show.

Nick is also, for lack of a better word, boring. Joe Alwyn has taken some heat on the internet for being “miscast” because of the lack of emotion from his character. That is Nick’s character, written by Rooney and portrayed on the show.

He’s still fascinating and fights his own battles that lead us to understand and sympathize with his motives for having an extramarital affair. Melissa’s bombshell confession to Frances about her affair with Nick’s best friend puts every relationship into perspective.

At first, we’re angry at Melissa. What a horrible thing to cheat on your husband while he’s in treatment for severe depression. Then, the layers become more apparent based on Melissa’s struggling, and we can comprehend why she did what she did.

There’s a morality battle in the show between the ethics of marriage and one’s pursuit of happiness, pleasure, and love.

All four of the main characters are selfish. Most people are in real life are selfish, especially younger people exploring relationships and friendships with many mistakes, as Frances does.

Nick’s looking to revive his love life after everything he and Melissa have gone through. Frances looks outside of her toxic friendship with Bobbi where she’s not constantly being inquired about her lack of emotion and words.

Bobbi wants to stir the pot to be the center of attention, and Melissa seeks intimacy and connection for herself to align with her successful career.

In one of the more poignant scenes in the latter half of the show, Bobbi brings up the subject of monogamy at a pub. She critiques her friends’ relationships right in front of them, causing tension on Conversations with Friends Season 1 Episode 10.

Her stance about people being able to love more than one person encapsulates the main issue and conflict of the show. Ironically, the characters have this conversation, alluding to the title, while also sparking this conversation for us based on how the plot unfolds.

Nobody condones cheating on your wife with a university student, but the show complicates our understanding of affairs and monogamy.  

Melissa: He’s happier, and, um,  presumably, you are the cause of that.  And that, that is always what I said I wanted… his happiness and now, um, now I know that’s true.  

We battle along with Nick, Melissa, Frances, and Bobbi, contemplating the right and moral actions of all the characters.

While whether the ending is happy or sad is certainly up for debate, one positive aspect is encouraging and hopeful.

Frances and Nick learn to communicate! It’s painful watching them hold back from each other and the people around them throughout the show, but by the end, they’ve opened up to each other.

Nick slowly discloses his mental health battles to Frances and conveys the truth about his marriage with Melissa. Frances, meanwhile, opens up about her health struggles and her feelings for Bobbi. Her relationship with her parents also seem to improve.

Overall, there’s a development for the characters. The show excels at it, even with the actors’ body language. Once again, it makes it difficult not to want Nick and Frances to be together since they’ve helped each other so much with personal growth.

I can only imagine Bobbi’s reaction when and if she finds out about Frances calling and meeting up with Nick in the final scene. Ideally, everyone compromises, but as Conversations with Friends shows us, nothing about love makes sense.

What did you think of these episodes of Conversations with Friends? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Conversations with Friends is currently streaming on Hulu.

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