Each of Easy’s eight episodes explore a take on a different sort of relationship, with Chicago as the setting for all of these stories. Easy’s big selling point is surely going to be the impressive cast that Swanberg assembled. The show features the likes of Jake Johnson, Marc Maron, Dave Franco, Hannibal Buress, Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman, Aya Cash, Emily Ratajkowski, and a whole lot of other people. There’s truly some enviable talent here, not just in terms of the comedic ability on tap, but just the level of celebrity of some of these guest stars. I have no doubt people will be flocking to this show because they’re a fan of this talent, which is ultimately why it’s so frustrating that a lot of these people feel ultimately squandered. Make no mistake, everyone is doing a great job, but it’s all work that feels hardly challenging or demonstrative of what they’re capable of. Certain actors like Jake Johnson and Hannibal Buress even feel like after thoughts. They get swallowed up by the bigger stories and they barely even register.

What’s interesting with Easy is that Swanberg wrote and directed all eight episodes, rather than having different like-minded voices come in to helm the various installments. Part of the point of an anthology series is to highlight the new universe being created each episode and someone like Swanberg has a very particular style rather than being the chameleon necessary for this sort of endeavor.

In spite of this, Swanberg more than rises to the challenge and does a great job with all of his outings, so who am I to say that he should have had other people involved? I’d just think that the presence of other cinematic vantage points could have taken this show even further. Swanberg still could have even directed all of the episodes, while still allowing a stable of different writers to blossom under this premise (or vice versa). However, there’s an episode that’s nearly entirely in Spanish with subtitles that feels particularly out of Swanberg’s wheelhouse. It’s an ambitious experiment for him, and still a worthwhile episode, but you’re just thinking, why couldn’t a Spanish director be doing this? Is Swanberg really the best person to tell this story?

Easy has a lot to say—or at least it thinks it does—with it tackling many variations on people in a relationship. There’s an episode that looks at a long-time married couple whose spark is vanishing. There’s another that digs into the lust and magic of new relationships and becoming addicted to someone. There are stories about committed couples exploring the idea of an open relationship, another about a pair trying to conceive and the accompanying drama that goes along with it, while another looks at a divorced man becoming inspired by a younger woman. Most of the more “traditional” relationship archetypes are explored here, with the season jumping between various races, genders, and sexual orientations to keep it fluid and versatile.

My favorite entry from the season is the fifth episode which follows Marc Maron as a twice-divorced graphic novel writer who’s personal life has exploded around him. Maron kills in this and it’s obviously a role that hits very close to home, but it’s still good casting, and thrilling to see Maron continually better himself as an actor. As Maron’s character involves himself with a younger girl who’s a fan of his, the episode begins dipping into the extremes between their two social circles. Things bubble up to a pleasant, poignant discourse about privacy that I ended up enjoying a fair bit.