Queenie

It’s a story whose ultimate power sneaks up on you, because Carty-Williams is smart enough to recognize that the best way for us to understand Queenie is to be confronted by her trauma at the same time, and in the same way, that she is. .... This is a very sharp, moving, well-told story.

Queenie has some equally funny and dramatic moments in its first episode, and Dionne Brown handles both sides of her character well.

“Queenie” can feel “young adult” instead of young and adult, but the flip is that the show is never a miserable slog through trauma and degradation. It’s smart, poppy and fun — critical, but not cynical.

As a character study Queenie is first-rate. As a drama, you only wish it pushed things further.

Even as a few characters feel underdeveloped and some of the drama here feels a little forced, there is a lot to enjoy about Queenie. And many of the actors seem to bring their full hearts into their roles.

There are weaknesses (even with Sally Phillips playing the editor, Queenie’s media workplace is too sketchily drawn), but this is nicely honed television not without bite.

Queenie feels like a dramedy dreamed up by half-arsed AI. The breakup, the queer pal who encourages her to date again, even the dreams of making it as a writer in the big city are painfully rote cliches. Because Queenie feels so imprecise, investing in any of these plotlines is difficult.