If you’re fond of messy characters with a sense of humor and a lot of charm, then you’ve probably watched Sharon Horgan navigate each decade of adult life, from singlehood in Pulling to early marriage and children in Catastrophe, and now to midlife in Youth. As much as that title suggests otherwise, her new HBO series is not about being young—because where’s the fun in that? Instead, we watch Horgan’s character, Alex, as she contends with post-divorce sex, menopause, a rudderless son, aging parents, and a job that’s shifting under her feet—some of us nodding in recognition all the way through.
It’s tempting to conflate Alex with Horgan, and she’s O.K. with that: “Some of the stuff in the show has happened to me, but a lot of my response is after-the-fact wisdom. L’esprit—what is it called? L’esprit de l’escalier.”