quisam sommer eiddwin
Ling Baus
As Valentine's Day nears, Netflix has released an adaptation of David Nicholls' best-selling 2009 novel, OneDay. There was already a 2011 movie adaption starring Anne Hathaway as Emma Morley and Jim Sturgess as Dexter Mayhew. Now, Ambika Mod takes on the role of Emma, with White Lotus' Leo Woodall as Dexter.
The Netflix series mostly sticks to the book by depicting the couple over many years, focusing on every July 15 (aka St. Swithin's Day). This day marks the anniversary of Dexter and Emma interacting when they graduated from university in Edinburgh in 1988, with the show depicting how they became friends, grew to like each other, grew apart, and tried to move on personally and professionally. While One Day's finale initially sets up a happy ending, it's ripped away in the most shocking fashion to reiterate how cruel life can be.
Over the course of the 14 Netflix episodes, OneDay carves out the typical "will they, won't they?" storyline. Dexter loves Emma, but he's preoccupied with his career as a TV presenter and a drug habit. All his life, he got by on his looks and privilege, only for his mother to warn him about it. He thus spiraled out of control when she died of cancer. Emma, on the other hand, put aside her feelings for Dexter, believing she would always be his second choice.
Emma couldn't stand being a backup and waiting on her best friend, so she had different relationships and finally broke through as a children's author. However, after his divorce, Dexter visits Emma in Paris in 1999, hoping to start a romance. He is clean and sober too, hoping this change will win Emma over. After Emma senses he wants something more than just friendship, she chides him for trying to upset the order in her life.
Dexter grows jealous when he sees she has a boyfriend, but he eventually backs off on pursuing her as he just wants what's best for her. Much to his fortune, Emma returns to the loft, realizing this is their one shot at true love. She waited too long to say no to it, showing compassion for someone who got over their playboy past. It's a classic tale of star-crossed lovers who gravitate to each other like metal to magnet.
Dexter and Emma embark on a relationship, which culminates in them getting married, opening a caf and trying to have children in the next couple of years -- a dream Emma thought she'd never have. It brings their romance full-circle, which heals Dexter who was cheated on by his wife, Sylvie, and best friend, Callum. As for Emma, after spending time with Dexter's daughter, Jasmine, she knows this is the future she wants, which feels like OneDay is crafting a very fairytale ending.
Unfortunately, things drastically go awry in 2001. Emma is under pressure as she's not able to get pregnant yet. She snaps at Dexter, but soon realizes he's not to blame. After they reconcile, tragedy strikes. It occurs when Emma is hit by a car while riding her bicycle. She dies on the street, which sends Dexter into a tailspin over the next couple of years. He has never felt as lost as this, which leads to a major regression in his life as he struggles to believe in things like love and family.
A self-loathing Dexter dives back into alcoholism and heavy drug use for the remainder of the Netflix series. It results in a violent night when he gets beaten up at a bar by a stranger, leaving Sylvie wondering if he is fit to be around their daughter. Dexter's father eventually takes care of him for a bit, making it clear he has to be a better man for his family and to honor Emma's memory. It's what she would want. Furthermore, he has to cope with the grief and trauma, even if it means pretending his beloved is around -- something the father did when Dexter's mother passed away.
It's good, practical advice, but it's not easy because Emma was Dexter's focal point. She made him honest, decent and vulnerable. He was never truly human and never really believed in love until he was with her. Thus, Emma's absence has Dexter feeling like he'll never be able to get over the past and grow again. It's a very emotional trip for viewers left feeling for Dexter, who overcame so much turbulence in his life. He was always scared of that perfect life with Emma, thinking he might hurt her. To see him get over his fears and recognize Emma as his true north and then have it cruelly ripped away definitely creates one of TV's most heartbreaking love stories.
As the years pass, Dexter's friends and family visit to keep him company on this ill-fated day. Dexter still feels empty inside. No matter what, Emma was his better half, so no pep talk or bonding could help him get over the agony. In 2004, Dexter's imagination manifests a 'ghost' of Emma. Her presence tells him it's time to pack away her things and begin believing in the beautiful things in life once more -- themes found in The Notebook, as well as A Walk to Remember, and Love Actually
Dexter will feel again, even if it hurts and takes a while. It's a remarkably endearing, yet shattering sequence as he cries listening to her 'spirit.' This is not a breaking point; it's a signal he has to get his life back in order. Three years later, Dexter takes Jasmine to Arthur's Seat, throwing back to the first date Dexter and Emma had up in the Scottish hills. Jasmine always liked Emma, so it's a bit of pleasant serendipity. As they leave, he remembers Emma by some steps and how he almost avoided that date. The flashback fills in the gap in the first episode, explaining why they were running in the streets.
It turns out, Dexter kissed her on the steps, which led to them heading into town where she met his parents. That precipitated the Christmas they'd spend together, which, sadly, didn't lead to a relationship. However, it was the catalyst and spark that kept their flame burning, infinite and eternal in Dexter's heart, mind and soul. It proves that while Dexter was frightened when she first met his parents, he always intended deep down for her to be his romantic partner. It's bittersweet because now, audiences get deeper clues into how immature he was, being this restless person who didn't want to settle down.
The opening episode didn't allude to his strong feelings like that, but fans see the full truth at last. Ultimately, this caps one of Netflix's most powerful learning experiences, as Dexter discovers -- the hard way -- how unpredictable life can be. It teaches fans that, mortality and existential dread aside, they ought to grasp every moment when they are alive in the present. It is something a regretful Dexter wishes he did more with Emma, but at least he has the wisdom to pass down to Jasmine. Thankfully, he is on good terms with everyone, including his father and his ex-wife Sylvie. He has now become the man they all wanted him to be all along. As they would all testify: it's due to Emma's presence in his life and even from beyond the grave.
It takes eleven St. Swithin's Days for Emma and Dexter to finally get together. In the time between (a full eleven episodes) they've almost hooked up, been friends, met professional highs and lows, had a blow-up fight that briefly ended their friendship, and reconciled, sharing a brief kiss before deciding to not speak of it again. Emma has found herself on steady ground with a successful teaching and writing career, while Dex has sort of gotten his life together after a failed career as a television presenter and a broken-up marriage; he also has a daughter, named Jasmine.
Episode 12 takes place on July 15, 1999, while Emma and Dex spend a day in Paris. Emma has spent the past two months living in the City of Love on a research trip, while Dex is sorting through his divorce from Sylvie, which has put a strain on his relationship with Jasmine. After the best friends reunite, Dex quickly brings up their night together before Emma left London, but she would rather wait to discuss it. Still, she's his supportive friend, listening to his concerns about Jasmine and suggesting new jobs he could try. When Dex tries to kiss her, Emma admits that she's dating someone, and that's when they finally sit down and talk about the night they slept together(!) before she left. Em says that they were both drunk and he was angry and they just needed to feel better, but Dex hasn't stopped thinking about her since then. Still, Emma feels like the consolation prize, not like it just took Dex years to realize she was the one.
When Emma offers to take Dex out to dinner, along with her new boyfriend Jean-Pierre, he feigns a cold so Em and the Frenchman will go out without him. It seems like the chapter is finally closed on their flirtation...but then Emma comes back by herself. They finally, passionately hook up, and at the end Emma warns Dex that if he leads her on, or lets her down, or goes back to any of his other self-destructive behavior, she will murder him. He promises he won't, and when he says that she can't get rid of him, it's nothing but the truth.
Episode 13 goes through three monumental years of Emma and Dex together. In 2000, Dex and Emma are a united team making plans to open a Parisian caf, and they agree to move in together. In 2001, they're engaged and preparing for a wedding, when Emma tells Dex that she wants to have a baby. By 2002, the blissful haze has gone away and real life has begun to settle in. Emma picks a fight after she tells him that she's gotten her period, even though they've been trying for a baby for a year. Once they resolve it, and partake in a bit of reminiscing about their early 20s, they have a quite normal day. Emma spends it writing, chats with her bestie Tilly, and goes swimming, while Dex is busy at the cafe. They exchange voicemails about meeting up to see a house for sale, and both the messages are loving and normal. Everything's mundane, just a day like several others. The boring yet meaningful parts of a life together. Which is why it's all the more shocking when, while riding her bike in the rain, Emma's hit by a car and dies.
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