HBO Max's Close Enough blends the too-real with the surreal

In a world now dominated by oppressive Boomers and socially-conscious Zoomers, it’s sometimes hard to recall the sheer volume of press millennials had throughout the 2010s. Every week we were killing something, or bringing something back, or not doing enough, or doing too much. The Millennial Experience (tm) was defined by being dealt a shitty hand and somehow also not having the ambition to work hard. Perhaps the inherent contradiction of all this is what makes millennial art so strange and absurd. We want to achieve our dreams, but the real world always blocks us in new, insane ways.

This juxtaposition of the real world and a secret, nefarious fantasy world is the backdrop for the new HBO Max original animated series Close Enough. Created by Regular Show’s JG Quintel, the show follows thirty-something married couple Josh and Emily as they try to raise their daughter Candice while sharing a house with their divorced friends. Yep, they’re thirty-two and employed in Los Angeles and can’t afford a house. Sound familiar?

Many of the episodes deal with very down-to-earth subjects, such as teaching your kid a new hobby, or volunteering at her school, or even trying to recapture those crazy college nights at the club. But that surreal parallel dimension always rears its head and turns the average into sheer terror. The new hobby Josh chooses to teach Candice is skateboarding, and before he knows it, they’re forced to skate down the steepest hill in LA at max speed. Volunteering for the school goes well until a serial charity grifter holds our heroes at gunpoint on a moving train. The night at the club turns sour when anyone over thirty is subject to ritual sacrifice.

If this all sounds familiar, you either lead a very strange life, or you’ve seen Regular Show. Average life being twisted in absurd ways was the premise of Quintel’s last series too, and the structure of the two shows is pretty similar. The freedom of being an adult show on a streaming network means the show can get even weirder, though, and Close Enough certainly benefits from it. Many of the RS writers return as well, and Simpsons veteran Bill Oakley even acts as an advisor. The joke writing is sharp and surprising, replete with hidden sign gags and incredibly specific references. The pop culture stuff is less Family Guy and more BoJack Horseman, thankfully, so it never gets distracting. They even manage to make an entire episode referencing The Cable Guy work, against all odds.

While Close Enough doesn’t have the emotional heft of BoJack or the similarly surreal Tuca & Bertie, it does have a unique perspective and flavor that’s charming and consistently funny. If you’re a fan of Regular Show, this is a no-brainer, but everyone else living the Millennial Experience (tm) is likely to find something to laugh at here too.