A bantering comedy about a bipolar millennial was never the most obvious sell and Nicola Coughlan went above and beyond in series one of Big Mood (Channel 4,10.30pm) with her sensitive yet often hilarious portrayal of lead character Maggie. But all of the show’s potential has evaporated in a second season that pushes Maggie’s mental health concerns into the background and broadens out into a chaotic sitcom centred on her friendship with hipster bar owner Eddie. What once was special now feels generic and throwaway.
Coughlan is, once again, the best thing about Big Mood. But it is hard to get past the fact that the series is the latest entry in the hugely annoying genre of “Irish person in London with quirky English friends” – a proposition almost as annoying as actual Irish people in London with quirky English friends (the worst). It also suffers from a vexingly broad turn by Niamh Cusack as Maggie’s mother, affecting what a posh Dubliner probably regards as a “rural” Irish accent. Think Mrs Doyle from Father Ted possessed by the angry spirit of a Healy-Rae or two. Or actually don’t think of it at all. Just allow it to wash over you and never permit it to cross your mind again.
Chief among the quirky friends of struggling playwright Maggie is Eddie (Lydia West) – or at least she was until their falling out during season one following a misunderstanding about Maggie’s medication. They’ve patched things up, but Eddie has also found love in the shape of American influencer Whitney. However, Maggie suspects Whitney (Hannah Onslow) is trying to swindle Eddie out of her inheritance: she is smiley and American and is thus obviously up to no good. Determined to rescue their friend from a toxic embezzler, Maggie and her pals (did I mention they were quirky?) conspire to more or less kidnap Eddie in an attempt to talk sense into her.
Having had the wool pulled back from her eyes, Eddie finally sees the error of her ways. But she still needs to make peace with Maggie. To that end, the series concludes with the duo returning to the now-shuttered pub in London and reflecting on their friendship, which began with Maggie gatecrashing the wake of Eddie’s father years earlier. These final scenes contain a lot of flashbacks that feel like filler cobbled together under deadline. More than that, they give the exchanges between Maggie and Eddie the feeling of a forced conversation between people who have grown apart – the opposite, surely, of what the script intends.
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The leads have chemistry as pals who’ve been through a lot, but it is never entirely clear what Big Mood is trying to say about female friendship beyond the rather obvious bromide that well-intentioned people fall out sometimes and that it’s important to patch things up when the opportunity allows.
The point is well made, but it does feel like a regression from series one and the earnestness with which it tackled mental health. This leads one to wonder if Big Mood might not have been better as a one-and-done, rather than dragging things out with a superfluous second season. Coughlan tries her best, but she is adrift in a sitcom that has lost its focus. Sad to say, Big Mood is a little bit of a let-down – though it does confirm Coughlan as a star who can shine even when a show has lost its glow.
