Meet Cute – As the first episode of The Flatshare begins, Tiffany (Jessica Brown Findlay) sits on the couch crying. The neighbor bangs on the wall while yelling for her to turn the music down. When she gets a call from Justin, she pretends everything is okay. Tiffany admits she misses him and hopes they’re still friends. After the call, Tiffany begins decorating her flat. She takes pictures of the flat before receiving a thumbs-up emoji from Justin. While taking a bath, Tiffany receives a call from an inmate at Her Majesty’s Prison of Handsworth. She doesn’t know who it could be so she hangs up without accepting the call. Tiffany looks around the flat and finds a driver’s license belonging to a man named Leon Campbell. When Tiffany goes to work in the morning, Leon (Anthony Welsh) enters the flat and sees what she has done to the place.

He gets a call from his girlfriend who learns that his flatmate has already unpacked. He finds a note from Tiffany telling him to feel free to drink her herbal teas. Leon sniffs the sheets before telling his girlfriend to come over even though he going to sleep in 42 minutes. Tiffany goes to a café with Maia (Shanique Okwok) who offers to pay for hers since everyone is so expensive. Maia knows it is hard, but she doesn’t think Tiffany needs a man to wake her up in the morning. Tiffany tells her that the contract with her flatmate says there can be no crossover so they haven’t met. She thinks it is a good idea since she gets the flat on weekends. Maia reminds her that she has other options. Tiffany needs her own space right now and this is the only way she can afford it. They agree it is messed up considering she is sharing a bed with a man she has never met.

Leon’s girlfriend asks which side of the bed his flatmate sleeps on. She explains why it is important to find out. Kay offers to let Leon stay in her bed so he can raise the money he needs. He reminds her that her flat is too far from his work. Once Tiffany gets to work, she learns that they’re having the meeting now. Phil (Dustin Demri-Burns) warns them that he won’t be able to renew their contracts if Rocco doesn’t buy because Bother is running at a loss. They’ll need some killer content so he can convince his bosses that they’re worth their salary. One man has an exclusive about a woman who fell asleep against a radiator while on ketamine. Rachel (Gina Bramhill) wants to write an article about partners who share passwords since 70% of people in relationships do that. Tiffany doesn’t think it is a bad idea so the others explain why it is bad digital hygiene.

Then, she pitches her idea about writing an article on ironic horoscopes. Phil doesn’t like it. He gives them one week to come up with stories and reminds them that the winner will be featured on the homepage. Tiffany is tasked with interviewing the Messiah since she didn’t come up with any ideas. While interviewing him about his “nothing” art, Tiffany plays on her phone and zones out. She looks at pictures of Justin with another woman. Once she tells Rachel later, Rachel tries to make her feel better about it. Tiffany says Justin claimed it was a one-time thing, but Rachel doubts it was. Rachel tries to convince her to come out for drinks. Tiffany quickly agrees to go. Leon’s alarm wakes him so he can get ready for work. He begins removing the pillowcases. Before leaving, Leon leaves Tiffany a note asking her to sleep on the left side of the bed.

Rachel tries to convince Tiffany to talk to a man at the pub. When she goes over to talk to him, Tiffany says she is crap at casual sex and falls in love with every man she sleeps with. When Rachel hears her going on and on, she tells Tiffany that she needs shots. At work, Leon talks to one of the patients named Holly who claims she could die at any minute. He doubts that. Although she’ll get out soon, she believes she’ll be back in the hospital again soon enough. Leon eventually tells her that his girlfriend’s birthday is the 20th of June so she is a Gemini. Holly guesses correctly that he is a Libra because she is really intuitive. When he gets a call, Holly tells him to pick it up because she won’t tell Sister Tania. Rachel gets Tiffany high until she begins dancing and having fun. She continues until she follows the man outside to the smoking area.

She tells Rachel she is going to go home with a man with a beard. Rachel uses her phone to call Mo (Jonah Hauer-King) while Leon tries to reassure his girlfriend that Tiffany is only a flatmate. After the call, Holly asks about his flatmate before Leon admits he thinks she might be a bit of a dick. Tiffany is excited when she sees Mo. She wishes she could fancy him, but he is asexual to her. Mo wants to get her a taxi and send her home. Tiffany continues drinking while complaining about Justin before eventually throwing up. Mo tells her that this could be a chance for a new start. Leon tells his coworker that his brother’s situation is a waiting game now. He is told working the night shift lowers your life expectancy by two decades and increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease. They begin talking about Mrs. Lane who passed away just after dinner. They take her to the quiet room since the family is coming.

Mo tries to walk Tiffany home. In the morning, she wakes up and finds a note on her face asking her to sleep on the left side of the bed. She accepts the call from Leon’s brother who is in prison. When she realizes what time it is, she has to rush to get ready while his brother tries to leave a message. He flirts with her and learns what she does for a living. Richie (Shaq B. Grant) leaves a message letting his brother know that his appeal was denied. He suggests it is time to admit defeat so his brother can save money. Tiffany learns that Leon has been paying some budget lawyer. Richie explains he went down for armed robbery even though he didn’t do it. He wants her to ask him to call their mom. Tiffany tries to ask him something, but Richie runs out of credits before she can. Tiffany leaves without running into Leon. When he gets home, he learns about the appeal being denied and drops his bowl of cereal.

Tiffany makes it to work where she tells Rachel about her hangover and the note telling her which side of the bed to sleep on. Rachel learns about Leon and Richie. Later, Tiffany tries to find information about Richie and the armed robbery. Phil checks on her since she was unprepared yesterday, hungover today, and her interview was full of typos. Tiffany says she has some stuff to deal with. Phil explains he is giving her constructive feedback because he rates her and doesn’t want to lose her. Leon calls his girlfriend to let her know that he is running late because he fell asleep. Tiffany learns that Richie allegedly held a South London shopkeeper at gunpoint. When Leon meets with Kay (Klariza Clayton), he learns that she already ate. She isn’t happy that he didn’t show up. Kay explains she is tired of coming second place to his brother.

Leon tells her about the appeal being denied so she begins comforting him. After Leon says his brother is looking at 15 years, Kay tells him he can move on now. She invites him to stay over. Tiffany shows Maia and Mo her new flat. She tells them about Richie pleading not guilty. She thought he sounded innocent so she wants Maia to help, but Maia quickly refuses. Tiffany tells them about Leon and how they’re communicating using post-it notes. They begin using post-it notes to arrange who should buy milk and bog roll. They also agree to exchange their sign-in information for streaming platforms. Leon gives her his Amazon password and tells her to memorize and destroy it since his girlfriend doesn’t even know it. Kay visits the flat and learns about it so she removes his password from the post-it note. While she is there, she looks through Tiffany’s clothes and underwear.

She finds Tiffany’s sex toy too. At work, Leon learns he is urgently needed in the children’s unit. Tiffany can’t find the Amazon password and suspects Leon was looking at her underwear. Tania tells Leon that Holly fainted in the bathroom and has been asking for him nonstop. Holly begins asking him questions about his girlfriend and flatmate, but Leon doesn’t want to answer those questions. She wants to talk to him because he is the only one who doesn’t talk to her like a baby. Leon admits it is his brother. Holly believes he worries about other people too much and no one is looking after him. Leon returns home and notices that the Amazon password is missing. At work, Tiffany suggests what they do is completely pointless. Rachel doesn’t feel that way though. Tiffany complains about living in a flat with a guy who stopped responding to her post-it notes because the city is so expensive.

She just wants a meaningful job with a salary she can actually live off, a wardrobe that all her clothes fit in, and a roommate who doesn’t go through her underwear drawer. At the flat, she gets messages from Leon asking her to turn the lights off and empty her coffee thing. She responds by asking him to put the toilet seat down and complaining about the toilet paper he buys. He gives her his Amazon password again after she complains about not getting it. At one point, he thinks she has been using drugs in their flat only to find that it was candy. Tiffany apologizes about his brother’s appeal before asking if there is anything she can do to help. One day, Justin visits when Tiffany isn’t home to give her a housewarming gift. After looking around, he tells Leon that Tiffany is very important to him and leaves. At work, Tiffany listens to Rachel talk about a woman who was stalked.

Tiffany pitches the idea of writing a profile for Richie. Eventually, Phil learns about her flat-sharing situation and quickly suggests that is the article she should write. If it is good, he’ll put it on the homepage.

 

The Flatshare Review

The opening episode of The Flatshare set up an interesting, unique concept that could potentially work well in later episodes. Jessica Brown Findlay and Anthony Welsh are good in their respective roles while the side characters were portrayed well too. The soundtrack was okay most of the time but that is probably subjective.

The camerawork is solid without being over-the-top or too artsy so The Flatshare is easy on the eyes. On the other hand, it is hard to know what The Flatshare is trying to be because it is attempting to be humorous and serious although neither element is working well. The flat-sharing aspect is interesting and helps set the series apart, but the other angles are mostly clichés that have been used countless times before.

The opening episode was mostly predictable and it is pretty easy to see where things will head from here. Nothing in the episode was particularly humorous or touching, but it may take more time to develop a genuine connection with the characters. The Flatshare doesn’t do anything exceptionally well, but it may be a decent binge even if viewers don’t get emotionally invested in the characters.

The basics are great but the story and characters aren’t captivating. Truthfully, the opening episode was just okay so it scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Flatshare can be found on Reel Mockery here. If you’ve found our recaps beneficial, consider supporting our work by following this link.

 

The Flatshare Cast

The Flatshare is a new British comedy, romance series available on Paramount+ in the United States. The series follows Tiffany and Leon who agree to share a flat with one another for various reasons. Tiffany is down on her luck after learning that her boyfriend is with another woman. As for Leon, he needs to save money so he can help his brother who is locked behind bars for an armed robbery he claimed he didn’t commit.

Jessica Brown Findlay as Tiffany

English actress Jessica Brown Findlay stars as Tiffany. She agrees to share a flat with Leon because she wants to be alone but can’t afford a flat on her own. She works for an online website of sorts and her flat-sharing arrangement will soon become the topic of one of her articles. Jessica Brown Findlay is likely best recognized as portraying Lady Sybil Branson on Downton Abbey. More recently, she appeared in Brave New World, Harlots, and Life After Life.

Anthony Welsh as Leon

Leon agrees to room with Tiffany because he needs to save money for his brother’s appeal. He works at a local hospital where he develops a relationship with a young patient. Leon is in a relationship with a woman who quickly becomes jealous of his new flatmate even though they don’t see one another. Leon is played by Anthony Welsh who has been in Black Mirror, Pure, Brassic, and The Great.

Gina Bramhill as Rachel

Rachel works with Tiffany and tries to help her overcome her recent relationship woes. The character is portrayed by English actress Gina Bramhill who was in Us, Father Brown, and Silent Witness.

Shaniqua Okwok as Maia

Maia is one of Tiffany’s best friends. She also works in law so Tiffany believes she could help Leon’s brother Richie. Maia is played by Shaniqua Okwok who was born and raised in Surrey. She is likely best recognized for being in It’s a Sin, War of the Worlds, and Wolfe.

Shaq B. Grant as Richie

Richie is Leon’s brother who claims he is in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Once his appeal is denied, he is set to serve 15 years for armed robbery. Richie urges his brother to move on with his life, but Leon likely won’t give up the fight. The character is played by Shaq Grant who was in one episode of Gangs of London and three episodes of Dead Pixels. He also appeared in seven episodes of The Box.

• Jonah Hauer-King as Mo
• David Hargreaves as Mr. Prior
• Nathalie Armin as Tania Joseph
• Klariza Clayton as Kay
• Dustin Demri-Burns as Phil