Unstable (Netflix series, 2023)
Unstable is a very funny comedy series about the unstable relationship between a father and son, played by Rob Lowe and his own son John Owen Lowe.
Unstable may be fiction, but there is something very real about it. The story is about the brilliant head of a biological research company, Ellis Dragon (Rob Lowe), who is an exotic eccentric to begin with and really becomes an unstable genius after the death of his wife.
To save his father from himself and the company from ruin, his son Jackson (John Owen Lowe), who has his own social problems, reluctantly agrees to work for him.
‘I don’t want to be like you,’ Jackson tells his father, who tries to turn his son into a version of himself. ‘There’s enough you in the world already.’
Even though Jackson has the science gene, he has chosen to become a flutist, which his father enjoys making fun of. So Jackson wants to leave as soon as possible. But Ellis is spiraling downwards, and as they say: ‘the only way of letting someone down is by giving up.’ So Jackson stays.
The plot of Unstable may be fiction, but a lot of the comedy is autobiographical. Rob Lowe has been a star for ages - who doesn’t remember movies like St. Elmo’s Fire (1986) and About Last Night (1986) - and his son suffered because of it.
Especially because Rob just loves being famous, which became totally embarrassing when John Owen was a teenager. So some years ago he started trolling his father on social media, making snide comments when his father took a selfie in front of his Emmy-nominations.
Rob Lowe, to his credit, took it all in his stride and together they became an internet sensation. Which in turn led to the idea for a comedy series, which the Lowes created together with Victor Fresco (Better Off Ted).
The material is charming and at times completely hilarious. Rob and John Owen work well together on screen and this leads to a lot of well-written comic exchanges that are guaranteed to provide some hearty laughs.
And as a workplace comedy it definitely does the trick. The technobabble is on the same high level of The Big Bang Theory. And apart from the two leads there are some notable supporting characters, like Anna (Sian Clifford), who is not only the company’s Chief Financial Officer, but who also writes fan fiction about her colleagues.
Then there is also the case of the missing therapist, who was assigned to Ellis, but who disappeared after a few days. So what happened there? Well, watch it and find out…
At first I had some doubts, I thought there was perhaps a little too much going on in the first few episodes, but I had high hopes for the rest of this show.
After watching more, I can confirm Unstable is close to perfect comedy and one of the best things Rob Lowe has ever done in his long and varied career!