TV Review - Ordinary Joe (2021)

Because Disney is dominating pop culture and media culture, I feel beholden to reference them here. In June, the company released Loki (2021), a series that dealt with the idea of the multiverse or multiple universes that differ based on certain choices that people make or don't make. Disney explored the multiverse concept even further with its series in August called What If...? (2021). Then, in September, FOX's remake, Fantasy Island (2021) aired an episode titled "Twice in a Lifetime" in which a woman lives out her life in two different universes. One universe has her marry an Indian-American and in the other universe she marries a white American. This series, created by Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Cloverfield), was conceived a decade ago and was actually supposed to be on the air in 2020, but it got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of its late debut, it feels a bit hackneyed or as if it's riding the coattails of the multiverse stuff that have happened this past year.

Of course, this multiverse idea didn't begin with Disney this year. Some could argue it goes back to It's a Wonderful Life (1946). However, for those younger than the average Baby Boomer, the idea originates in mainstream culture with something like Back to the Future Part II (1989). Most films about time travel deal with this concept of multiple universes or multiple timelines. This series isn't about time travel or any kind of science-fiction at all. At no point does the protagonist here get into a DeLorean and zip backwards through time. This series is more like Sliding Doors (1998) where we're simply presented the alternate universe without scientific or even supernatural explanation.

James Wolk (Zoo and Mad Men) stars as Joe Kimbreau, a graduate of Syracuse University who upon completion of his schoolwork has a choice of which direction his life will go professionally and personally. He has three options. At his literal graduation, he can either pursue a woman who will help him to achieve his dream of becoming a rock star in the vein of Billy Joel. The second option is him marrying a girl who has been his best friend for years, which will lead him to becoming a nurse or a medical professional. The third and final is if he didn't pursue any girl and instead followed in his father's footsteps in order to become a police officer.

The series and indeed each episode proceeds to show us how Joe's life would have turned out if he had chosen all three of those options. Each episode jumps back-and-forth between three timelines or three alternate universes. In the first universe, Joe becomes a rock star. In the second universe, Joe becomes a nurse. In the third universe, Joe becomes a cop. The problem though with this series is that who knows how long it'll take to explore these separate timelines. With something like Sliding Doors, there was a finite nature to it that showed us the long-term and lasting consequences of a single choice.

This series isn't quite built that way. This series like most American dramas is built to continue for season after season if necessary, so any long-term or lasting consequences to Joe's life is not really going to be seen any time soon. The differences we see in the three timelines feel mainly superficial. Joe might have different jobs or professions and his marital status or to whom he's married might be different, but it feels as though he's essentially on the same trajectory. His life isn't radically different from one timeline to another, which would make sense realistically to some degree, but then, what's the point of us watching these alternate timelines if there isn't some radical difference?

In Sliding Doors, it doesn't seem like the protagonist's life is radically different either, but where it goes leads to a radical consequence that shows the power of a single choice. However, if one wanted to underline that point, this concept is a bit overkill. Otherwise, we're basically watching the same thing three times with slight variations. It makes the jumping back-and-forth confusing because unless we see Joe at his job in whatever uniform he would wear for said job, then one can get lost in the triple story lines being juggled in one episode.

This Is Us does the same thing, as it juggles multiple story lines. However, it's easier to distinguish the story lines because those story lines take place in different time periods and the characters are at different ages in the story lines. Therefore, it's easier to keep track of those stories and those characters. Here, Joe is the same age in each story line, so jumping between his three timelines can get confusing. The series uses a color filter to distinguish between the three timelines but even that's not enough. The only true marker is that rock star or music Joe has a beard. The facial hair clues me better to that story line or universe than anything else.

Elizabeth Lail (You and Once Upon a Time) co-stars as Jenny Banks, the aforementioned female best friend whom Joe marries in the second universe, which leads to him becoming a nurse. She's also the mother to his special needs son. Having a special needs son is one of the reasons why Joe doesn't pursue his music career in the second universe. However, that's not really the issue that Joe faces. Joe and Jenny are having marital problems and they're currently in a trial separation. Jenny is a lawyer, but she's not as far in her career as she would like. Some of that is due to her special needs son. Part of it is due to her feeling that Joe wasn't able to fully pursue his dream, so she shouldn't. However, their issues don't seem insurmountable, and in fact they aren't.

Charlie Barnett (Tales of the City and Chicago Fire) also co-stars as Eric Payne, the childhood friend to Joe, a friend who is not only biracial but also bisexual. Things are different for Eric in the various realities. In the reality where Joe is a musician, Eric works for Joe's wife. In the reality where Joe is a nurse, Eric is a chef at his own restaurant. In the reality where Joe is a cop, Eric works at a pizza shop. The question becomes why. Joe's choices obviously have an affect on Eric's job choices or Eric's job outcomes, but why or how? What's also a question mark about Eric is that in the nurse reality, Eric is dating or involved with a woman with whom Joe is involved in the music reality. Yes, I get that it's easier to have that same woman involved with both men, but it's also lazier and more head-scratching about the dominoes falling or butterfly effect of Joe's choice that are mostly brushed over in this series.

Natalie Martinez (Under the Dome and CSI: NY) plays Amy Kindelán, the woman who is involved with Eric in the nurse reality but she's married to Joe in the music reality. In the music reality and in the cop reality, Amy is involved with politics. In fact, in the music reality, she's a successful politician herself. In the cop reality, she simply works for a successful politician named Bobby Diaz, played by Adam Rodriguez (Criminal Minds and CSI: Miami). In that cop reality, she's having an affair with Bobby. As with Eric and Jenny, Amy's life, both professionally and personally, is altered based on Joe's choices. Unfortunately, it makes all of them feel more like pawns in this story, instead of being fully-fleshed out individuals.

Yes, I get that this series is about Joe and it's mainly about how everyone else swirls around him in different configurations based on what he does. Those different configurations can be intriguing, especially in the case of Bobby in the sixth episode, but, Bobby in that sixth episode feels like a pawn being moved around. The series only scratches the surface of him and never digs any deeper. He's then dismissed without any prospects of further exploration. The same probably won't be done with Eric and Amy. The series will probably delve further into them. The series would have to do so because Joe on his own isn't that compelling.

At first, cop Joe seemed the most removed from the others. Cop Joe didn't seem to have an interest in dating or even having children. As in The Family Man (2000), it seemed like cop Joe might be the contrast to the other versions of Joe who either loves being a father or wants to be a father desperately. However, it seems like cop Joe is moving in that direction. It simply took him longer to go there than the other two.

Lastly, music Joe is supposed to be a big star, but the show insists that little kids, even age 5 know who he is and practically revere him. I find that very hard to believe. Joe is most likely in his mid to late 30's. I don't know that I buy that little kids would know or care who he is to the degree that's depicted in this series. I suppose that Joe is comparable to someone like Chris Martin from Coldplay, but I don't know if little kids are into Coldplay. I could see if Joe were akin to someone like Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber, but again, Joe is probably a decade or more older than them. Someone like Justin Timberlake has little kids as fans, but Timberlake does pop music and has done children's films to get that wide-range appeal. Here, Joe doesn't seem like he does the kind of pop music that would broaden his reach to little kids.

Rated TV-PG.
Running Time: 1 hr.
Mondays at 10 PM on NBC.