If you want better episode pacing
Choose Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Season 1. It scores 4.3 vs 2.5 for episode pacing, with a 3.8 overall score.
Alice and Steve, Season 1 Review
Bottom Line
Choose Alice and Steve if you want a messy, sharp wrong-com powered by Nicola Walker and combustible friendship chemistry. Skip it if the age-gap premise, rushed romance, or chaotic back-half plotting will spoil the laughs.
Best for
Best for viewers who enjoy messy British dramedies about flawed adults, long friendships, petty revenge, and uncomfortable romantic complications. It especially suits anyone drawn to Nicola Walker’s volcanic comic-dramatic performance.
Not for
Not for viewers who need the central romance to feel plausible or comfortable. It is also a poor fit for family viewing or for anyone bothered by drug use, foul language, and morally messy characters.
Verdict
Alice and Steve Season 1 works best as a volatile friendship comedy: Nicola Walker and Jemaine Clement give the show a lived-in charge, and the revenge spiral can be sharply funny, awkward, and unexpectedly touching. The tradeoff is that the season’s provocative age-gap romance is also its weakest link for many reactions. Some found the discomfort productively complicated, while others saw the relationship as rushed, thin, or impossible to buy. Short episodes make the six-part run easy to binge, but the back half sometimes overpacks subplots and contrivances. It is a lively, divisive wrong-com with standout performances and a premise that will either hook viewers or push them away.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
45 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.05 (11%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.419 (42%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.413 (29%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.46 (13%)
-
Very negative below 1.52 (4%)
Pros
-
Walker and Clement’s lived-in best-friend chemistry is one of the show’s strongest selling points. Their comfort, sparring, and combustible history make the feud more convincing than the age-gap romance for many.
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Nicola Walker is the season’s most consistent standout, repeatedly praised for turning Alice’s fury into something funny, painful, and magnetic. Clement and the broader lead work are mostly liked, though a few felt Steve gives Clement too little room.
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The strongest emotional moments come from Alice’s heartbreak, the damaged friendship, and the fallout for Daniel and Dom. Even some mixed reactions found touching scenes beneath the messy plotting.
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Humor is one of the season’s biggest draws, with many finding the feud, zingers, and social disasters very funny. A smaller group thought the comedy was only mild, dated, or too buried under discomfort.
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The season is easy to keep watching thanks to short episodes, messy momentum, and strong lead chemistry. Several called it a breezy or single-sitting watch despite reservations.
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The ensemble is widely treated as a major asset. Walker, Clement, Margalith, and the supporting players give the messy material enough charisma and emotional texture to keep the show watchable.
Cons
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Believability is one of the most common complaints from detractors. The Steve-Izzy romance, quick plot turns, and some late-season choices can feel artificial rather than lived-in.
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Some behavior lands as emotionally chaotic by design, but a few plot turns feel too weightless or irrational. The career-destroying events and repeated bad choices made the character logic feel shaky for detractors.
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This is not presented as a family-friendly pick. Drug use, foul language, sexual situations, and adult relationship fallout make it a poor fit for younger or more sensitive household viewing.
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The six-episode pace keeps the show moving, but it often rushes the Steve-Izzy relationship and major emotional turns. Several found the briskness easy to watch but damaging to believability.
-
Language is flagged as heavy and rough. Anyone avoiding frequent profanity should treat this as a clear content concern.
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Continuity is a concern where a major career-damaging event barely reverberates afterward. That lack of follow-through makes one big turn feel less consequential than it should.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other TV Shows, this product is above average in age appropriateness, humor, dialogue quality, near average in theme depth, story quality, below average in score quality, plot twists, season finale quality.
Comparison summary
45 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher10 (22%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts17 (38%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower18 (40%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| score quality | 2.0 | 4.1 | -2.1 |
| plot twists | 2.3 | 4.0 | -1.7 |
| season finale quality | 2.4 | 4.0 | -1.6 |
| realism | 2.0 | 3.4 | -1.4 |
| cliffhanger effectiveness | 2.5 | 4.0 | -1.5 |
| continuity | 2.0 | 3.2 | -1.2 |
| language level | 1.4 | 2.6 | -1.2 |
| episode pacing | 2.5 | 3.4 | -0.9 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better family friendliness
Choose It’s Not Like That, Chapter 1. It scores 4.5 vs 1.3 for family friendliness, with a 4.5 overall score.
If you want better realism
Choose What It Feels Like For A Girl, Season 1. It scores 4.6 vs 2.0 for realism, with a 4.1 overall score.
If you want better score quality
Choose Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, Season 1. It scores 4.5 vs 2.0 for score quality, with a 3.9 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
Beef
- Better: revenge-comedy plotting The feud plotting is described as a familiar idea executed better in Beef.
- Compared: malice and escalating personal revenge The revenge spiral is compared with Beef as Alice and Steve unleash increasingly destructive malice.
Fleabag
- Compared: wrong-com tone The show is also tonally grouped with Fleabag in Decider's wrong-com comparison.
Shameless
- Better: chaotic comedy-drama plotting The chaotic dramedy beats are said to have been handled better by Shameless.
FAQ
Is Alice and Steve Season 1 funny?
Usually, yes, if you like uncomfortable wrong-comedy. The feud, banter, and social disasters drew a lot of praise, though a few found the humor mild or too buried under the premise.
What is the biggest strength of the season?
Nicola Walker’s performance and her chemistry with Jemaine Clement are the clearest strengths. Their long, messy friendship gives the show its best scenes.
Is the age-gap romance handled well?
That is the most divisive part. Some felt the show uses the discomfort intelligently, while others thought it avoids the hardest questions or makes the romance too hard to believe.
Does the six-episode length work?
The short format makes it easy to binge, but it also rushes some relationship turns and side plots. Several reactions wished the season had more room to breathe.
Is it appropriate for family viewing?
No. The season centers on adult sexual relationships and includes drug use, foul language, and mature relationship conflict.
Should there be a second season?
Warmer reactions showed real interest in more episodes, especially because Alice and Steve’s damaged friendship still has room to evolve. Mixed reactions were less convinced unless the writing becomes more focused.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
Article Reviews
bostonglobe.com
- Review score
- 4.0
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