Like the name says, ‘Here and Now’ is an American drama television series that focuses on problems that we can relate to in the present day and age. The show has elements of dark comedy and has been created by Alan Ball who has worked on ‘American Beauty‘ and ‘True Blood‘. The show airs on HBO and first premiered on February 11, 2018. The story focuses on issues concerning race, identity and mental illness, and is based on a multi-racial family in the Portland area.
The discourses around race and identity are becoming increasingly important in today’s world with a rise in right-wing politics that seeks to homogenize identities based on certain superstructures, which has its roots in religion or nationalism. To top it off, mental health is more important now than ever, with the postmodern and capitalist society seeing more and more people slipping into depression. Under such circumstances, a show like ‘Here and Now’ becomes extremely relevant and timely. Naturally, it managed to draw quite a fan base as a result. However, critics have not received it all too well, saying, “Here and Now clearly has a point it wants to make, but a nebulous plot and unfocused character development stand in the way of its potential”.
Here and Now Cast: Who is in it?
The main cast of ‘Here and Now’ includes Holly Hunter who plays Audrey Bayer, a therapist. Tim Robbins of ‘The Shawshank Redemption‘ fame is cast as Greg Boatwright, Audrey’s husband. Jerrika Hinton plays Ashley Collins, owner of a retail fashion website. She was adopted from Liberia. Raymond Lee plays as Duc Bayer-Boatwright. He is a successful life coach and a womanizer but was adopted from Vietnam when he was five years of age.
Daniel Zovatto is cast as Ramon Bayer-Boatwright, a college senior who studies video game design. He was adopted from an orphanage in Colombia when he was 18 months of age. Sosie Bacon plays Kristen Bayer-Boatwright. She is her parents’ only biological child. Malcolm Collins is played by Joe Williamson. He is the personal trainer for the Portland women’s soccer team and Ashley’s husband and Duc’s best friend. Andy Bean plays Henry, someone who is in love with Ramon.
Peter Macdissi plays Dr. Farid Shokrani, Ramon’s therapist. The others on the roster are Marwan Salama as Navid Shokrani and Necar Zadegan as Layla Shokrani. There are several other guest stars who add a degree of richness to the series.
Here and Now Plot: What is it about?
The main plot of ‘Here and Now’ is about a multi-racial family who begins to have their bonds tested when one child sees things that the others cannot. One thing is for certain, the show has good intentions and its heart is in the right place. That being said, the show seems to be overcompensating. In fact, given the time of release, it seems like reactionary left-wing anger to the election results. Thus we have very inclusive premise where we not only see people of color and other sexualities, but we also see intersectionally marginalized people as well, like trans-Muslim characters.
