Hulu has been heavily pushing The Lads (2019-) an autobiographical series (ugh!) about the adolescent experiences of comedian Liam Williams. Ten to one Liam and the lads are homophobic. But maybe there will be some beefcake, and at least it will get Hulu off my back.
Scene 1: At a party. Liam (Liam Williams), middle aged, bearded, gets angry at another guy for chaatting up his girlfriend. She doesn't mind, and actually criticizes him for being possessive. The guy backs off, but Liam isn't satisfied.
He approaches to start a fight, while second-guessing himself ("What am I doing? Am I a 12-year old, or a footballer?). He explains that, as a man of a certain age, he is incapable of processing his emotions properly, so he often resorts to fighting. Montage of other fights he's gotten into when a guy hits on a girlfriend.
Scene 2: Back to Liam's adolescence, in the early 2000s, in a suburb of Leeds, in Yorkshire (for Americans, think Pittsburgh). Liam and his lads (Addy, Ralph, and Tom) are roughhousing on the last day of the term. Addy and Ralph have decided that they're going to spend the summer engaging in sexual intercourse with the Girls of their Dreams, Rachel and Cassie (of course, the girls don't know it yet).
Shift to the Girls of their Dreams walking in slow motion down the hall.
The Lads on IMDB is something else, so I had to go to the end credits to get the actors; names: Actors: Tom (Andrew Alexander), Young Liam (Oscar Kennedy, left), Ralph (Sam Bottomley), Adnan (Aqib Khan),
Scene 3: The Girls enter the classroom. Addy and Ralph freeze in awe, while the other lads giggle and nudge each other, enjoying their discomfort. Ralph's Girl seems to like him -- she offers to meet him at the afterschool hangout -- but Addy's Girl sneers and denigrates him. He responds by giving her all of the lads' cigarettes.
When the Girls leave, the other lads criticize their pickup techniques. They point out "the villain of the piece," Matthew White/Whitey (Jack Corrie), who is good at talking to girls, and therefore despicable. He's also athletic, and "he once nutted a train conductor for having the neck to ask for his ticket."
Ralph sees Whitey talking to "his" girl (even though they've never actually dated), and goes off: "I'm going to batter him! I'll pulverize him!" The lads restrain him.
Scene 4: Their after-school hangout, the local cemetery. Addy has failed to replace the lads' cigarettes., and Ralph's Girl has not appeared. They are about to leave, when Whitey's mates, the menacing bullies Rupert and Tinhead (Nick Preston, Jordan Pierson, left), appear. Growl, growl, insult, insult.
"What's all this about Ralph threatening to beat up Whitey?" They deny it, but the bullies don't believe them. They arrange for a fight, Friday at 6:00 pm at the rec center (if there's a rec center, why do they hang out in a cemetery?).
Scene 5: Ralph tries to find a way to avoid the fight. Maybe he could stay inside all summer. The Girls want to know why he threatened to beat up Whitey. "Because he was flirting with you." In what universe is that any of his business?
Turns out that Ralph's Girl is in love with him, and doesn't want him to get battered. She hugs him. He freezes in a panic.
Scene 6: Liam and Tom congratulate themselves because they're not involved in the argument, so they won't get battered. Then the bullies approach, and order them to ensure that Ralph shows up for his fight, or they will get battered after all.
Back to the present: the adult Liam is still approaching the guy who talked to his girlfriend, to beat him up.
Scene 7: One of the lads -- Addy? -- alone in his room, watching v. A nature show. Another -- Liam? -- looks in the mirror -- shirtless shot -- and yells at himself: "Are you a man, or what?" The adult Liam explains that they can't tell an adult, because that would make you "a grass" (an informer), the worst possible person in teenage Leeds culture (except for a pedophile or a Manchester United fan).
Scene 8: The boys having tea. It's 6:00, time to go to the fight. Ralph refuses to go. Liam, trying to save hmself, delivers an impassioned speech about "doing what's right."
Scene 9: They reach the rec center (actually a field). A huge crowd cheers Ralph on as he approached Whitey. Who pummels him. He gets up, bloody, and asks where his Girl is. "She didn't come." Liam feels guilty, since he basically talked Ralph into it.
Back to the present: Instead of fighting the guy, the adult Liam apologizes for "acting like a prick." He then apologizes to his girl and leaves. But she doesn't want to leave with him. The apology has apparently turned her off; he's not much of a man, innut?
Scene 10: Out on the street, Ralph summarizes that men don't need to posture and compete all the time. It's ok to feel "wealk, humiliated, unmanly." Two passing guys laugh and call him a "melt" (a loser). So he attacks.
Beefcake: One shot of the young Liam shirtless; Whitey in a boxing costume.
Heterosexism: The story is all about men competing over girls.
Gay Characters: Tom doesn't display any heterosexual interest, but I don't think he says anything at all.
Homophobia: No one says anything homophobic.
The Title: It's actually Ladhood.
My Grade: C.