The recent Hulu premiere is based on Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 essay collection of the same name. Tiny Beautiful Things follows Clare (Kathryn Hahn), a struggling writer who becomes a popular advice columnist while her own life is falling apart.
Tiny Beautiful Things is here to move us, shake us, and even tear us up a little. Although the series has been classified as a dramatic comedy, the truth is that there is not too much joy in this fiction, despite a few funny and light-hearted moments.
The Clare Pierce we first meet is chaotic: she is about to turn 50 and is in a perfect storm of recurring frustrations. She is a married mother who lives full of regrets, thwarted ambitions, and unresolved traumas.
Clare is deeply tormented by the early death of her mother. This catastrophic loss haunts her throughout her life and ends up messing up everything around her. Unable to process her trauma, Clare has sabotaged relationships with her husband Danny (Quentin Plair), daughter Rae (Tanzyn Crawford), and brother Lucas (Owen Painter).
Tiny Beautiful Things moves back and forth in time between present-day Clare and twentysomething Clare (Sarah Pidgeon), when her mother died.
Flashbacks reveal that Clare grew up in a humble, country area with her little brother and her single mother, Frankie (Merritt Wever). She has always dreamed of becoming a writer, but her career goals are repeatedly interrupted, especially by the death of her mother and her overwhelming sense of despondency.
Although Clare struggles to rebuild her life, grief eats away at her insides and she soon begins to lose herself. In the aftermath of the family tragedy, the young woman engages in all sorts of risky behavior and self-sabotage. With a wounded soul, Clare tries to find a place in the world without her mother. But this terribly complex task gets out of hand again and again.
Now, in the present time, Clare’s marriage is faltering, her husband Danny has kicked her out of the house; her relationship with her daughter Rae has gone bitterly off the rails, the teenager shuns her every chance she gets; moreover, Clare reluctantly works in a nursing home and has given up on her dreams almost completely.
In the midst of the maelstrom, our protagonist receives an unexpected proposal: an old friend offers her a job as an advice columnist, taking on the role of “Dear Sugar”. At first, the woman is reluctant. Clare is broken and she knows it; unable to conquer and remedy her own chaos, she refuses to advise others.
However, life has other plans for her. The fact that Clare is no stranger to pain and frustration has allowed her to develop a deep and revealing sensitivity. It is Clare’s failures and mistakes that enable her to write and connect with others in a compassionate and honest way.
There is a certain beauty in this irony: The broken woman knows what she is talking about. Although she doesn’t have all the answers, the aspiring writer will do her best to shed clarity for those seeking solace.
As an anonymous contributor, Clare will offer her opinions from candor, experience, and maturity. Helping her readers almost immediately becomes a kind of catharsis and salvation. It is fair to say that writing is her way to process all the accumulated pain.
For the first time in decades, Clare allows herself to flourish in this craft. Each letter she answers turns out to be a beautiful reflection on life. Overall, themes such as the nature of faith, the impossibility of absolute certainty, and the power of love stand out.
Notably, Clare and her best friend Amy (Michaela Watkins) have a quirky relationship that produces some of the show’s most brilliant moments. Watkins is hilarious in almost any role she takes on, and the sarcastic comments she makes to Clare are quite a sight to behold.
Throughout the series, Clare desperately tries to regain control of her fractured life as she seeks to manage the pain that began in her youth; if you’re looking for a poignant, sharp and raw story that explores the human condition, Tiny Beautiful Things should top your list of choices.
“How did I get so far from the person I wanted to be?”
Tiny Beautiful Things is an exploration of the grieving process and how emotional wounds can affect us deeply and endure over time. At the beginning of the season, Clare Pierce asks herself a shattering question: “How did I get so far from the person I wanted to be?”, and it is from this question that the central conflict of the story is woven.
Chapter by chapter, Tiny Beautiful Things reflects the decisive moments – both devastating and wonderful – that determined the course of Clare Pierce’s life, who, cornered in a chaotic existence, will have no choice but to find a way to forgive herself and make peace with the past.
It is worth noting that Clare’s family drama leaves us with valuable lessons. On the one hand, it reminds us that we should never lose the opportunity to appreciate our loved ones while they are with us. On the other hand, the show does a good job of encouraging the audience, emphasizing that none of us are too damaged to thrive and pursue our dreams; no one can deny that there is enormous promise of hope in this series.
The events portrayed in Tiny Beautiful Things could easily become a heavy drama. However, the format of eight half-hour episodes makes the show lighter and easier to digest.
Cast
Throughout her career, Kathryn Hahn has demonstrated an exceptional gift for playing both wacky comedy and emotional drama. In Hulu’s new fiction, Hahn again shows that formidable ability to go from one extreme to the other. The actress is at once very sincere and ironic, dowdy, funny and a wounded soul.
Sarah Pidgeon, meanwhile, has the difficult task of playing Clare Pierce during her twenties when her mother falls ill. Pidgeon can be fierce and vulnerable, loud and subdued. There is something special about her acting delivery.
All eight episodes of Tiny Beautiful Things are available on Hulu.