relationships
Avocado Toast: THIS MILLENNIAL WEB SERIES IS A NEW FORM OF THERAPY WO R D S B Y N A I M A K A R P
Avocado Toast is the perfect name for the adventures of two millennial BFFs navigating the complicated process of adulting. Their parents and the rest of the world misunderstand them. To be fair, they don’t even really understand themselves. This Canadian web series is a take on Workin’ Moms set in the years before the women become mothers, when they are advancing to other milestones in their lives. This is fitting, since one of the leading ladies, Perrie Voss, worked on the Workin’ Moms TV series herself. The show follows the complicated trajectory of two childhood BFFs as they grow out of childhood and blossom into the fiery, independent goddesses that we get to know as Molly, played by Heidi Lynch, and Elle, played by Perrie Voss. The banter is hilariously relatable, but so are the more vulnerable moments of the show. *Caution: Spoilers ahead for several Season 1 episodes, including the finale.
A rift occurs between the two friends when Molly comes back after living in London for a couple of years, only to surprise her bestie with a new morsel of knowledge—she’s into women. One woman, to be precise, as she tells Elle, “I’m just Molly” after being asked about her orientation.
Even though Molly’s mom and Elle celebrate this news, it’s still a complicated journey of self-exploration for Molly. She works in a high school, where she eventually has a breakdown about her newfound bisexuality. While questioning her own identity, Molly takes it a step further by breaking up with her London lover, since she isn’t quite ready to take further steps in the relationship while coming out to the world. Molly’s best friend Elle is going through something just as intense, though different. Her mom and dad are getting divorced, and Elle has just witnessed her mother’s infidelity with a much younger man. Sometimes it’s hard to pack all the themes they cover into their 10- to 15-minute mini-episodes. Still, the creators manage to do it in a refreshing yet heartfelt way that touches on nuances of nostalgia, going out of our comfort zones, and growing into the person we are beyond our childhood fantasies of ourselves. Another relatable theme in this web series is the intangible millennial concept of self-care that we’ve prioritized but still can’t really define. In episode 3, Molly tries to find herself through various outlets, like adult colouring books and yoga poses. But later in the episode, her friend tucks her into bed, offering a dose of steadfast comfort and familiarity.
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Are all those other things acts of self-care, or is this intimate moment an act of healing in itself ? In episode 5, Elle has an apparent vendetta against her mom’s new man. It makes sense since her dad is deeply hurt and hiding away in their cottage up north. But it’s also a poignant moment that shows how we never really grow up when it comes to relationships with our mothers. We’re transported back to that helpless and angsty tween who feels as though their world is crumbling. When Molly comes out to her mother, her mother surprises the audience with her own reveal—she’s been in a polyamorous relationship with her husband for years. Both Elle and Molly’s moms are woke for their respective generations (Elle tells her friend, “Your mom gave my mom her first vibrator in the ’70s,”) but still, Molly is shocked and slightly disturbed. In a later episode, Elle and Molly attempt to tackle self-care once again by reconnecting with nature at Elle’s childhood cabin, where her father is staying. Unfortunately, the opposite ensues. The two get into a blowout fight, and it’s a raw one that many of us can relate to. Issues from over the years start to bubble up, eventually leading to Elle explaining her desire to sabotage her mother’s new relation-
