*This article contains spoilers about a show that recently aired*
On March 28, Comedy Central’s Broad City aired its series finale after airing for five years and five seasons. The series began as a web-series back in 2010 that chronicled BFFs Abbi and Ilana’s adventures as they try to make it in New York City. Then in 2014, the show (with Executive Producer Amy Poehler) made it to cable, extending the two-minute web-series into a half-hour sitcom.
I began watching Broad City during spring break of my freshman year, after hearing a friend mention it. One episode in and I was already hooked. Then I proceeded to binge-watch the first two and a half seasons. Broad City really stood out to me because while most shows about friends living in New York were aspirational (Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, etc.), Broad City was attainable and realistic. For example, the show features Abbi, a 26-year-old art school grad who’s trying to become an illustrator but is working as cleaning staff at an upscale gym called Soulsticle to pay the bills. Her bestie is 23-year-old Ilana, an aspiring entrepreneur stuck working at a Groupon-esque startup called Deals, Deals, Deals.
Each episode tells a story of their daily shenanigans which include everything from trying to get Lil Wayne tickets to dog weddings in Central Park, and most of the time, things don’t magically work out in their favor. While I can wish to be a Carrie Bradshaw or a Blair Waldorf someday, my best friend and I *are* Abbi and Ilana.
It’s not only the portrayal of Abbi and Ilana that is realistic, but also the portrayal of New York City. There are no Vogue fashion closets or underground runway shows. Instead, the show takes Abbi and Ilana to their favorite bodega and makes sure they avoid Times Square, all while making subtle digs at the gentrification currently happening around the city.
During the fifth and final season, Abbi and Ilana (now 30 and 27) slowly begin to figure their lives out, a topic that couldn’t be any more fitting for my senior year of college. Unfortunately, this takes them in separate directions for the first time ever. Abbi is off to an Arts residency in Colorado, while Ilana is staying in the city to attend grad school to become a psychologist.
Even though my life isn’t some Upper East Side fantasy, Broad City reminds me that everything will work out on its own time and that a good friendship can survive just about anything.
*All gifs from Giphy.com