The review concerns the first four sections of a total of eight.
Ella is the single mother of three children and separated from the father to the youngest since two years. After being surprised by Exet's new girlfriend, she promptly decides to start dating. On the periphery of the series there is also a handsome best friend, a former sister-in-law and a silent colleague who works at Ella's catering company.
The description of the series initially makes me slightly skeptical. Between the lines, it is believed that this is a flaky story about how "crazy fun life puzzle and love can be".
After the first two episodes, I'm still pretty skeptical. Although romantic comedies are a genre whose best days can turn clichés into working feel-good, many romcom templates are popping up in no time:
Exet's new girl who is an artist (and therefore a crazy free soul) who has no sense of interpersonal behavior whatsoever.
The likely teenager has had adult-written dialogue down his throat and is interested in his mother's sex life in a way that (hopefully) is not a real 13-year-old.
The best friend whose biggest mission in life is the protagonist's love life and therefore calls up at half past eight in the morning and asks if she has "resigned herself to that dating site yet ?!"
But that's fine. Maria Sundbom Lörelius (The Girl, Mom & Demons and Most of all) plays the lead role in a brilliant way. She is restrained in the series' embarrassment scenes where it is easy to overplay and is vulnerable so that any degradation and hardship makes it stick to the heart of the viewer. In addition, the longer series format also allows the supporting cast to develop - not least the ex-sister-in-law Monica (Klara Zimmergren) who goes from sidekick with busy love tips to something much more human.
The series, despite the title, is more focused on Ella's life and less on the dates that the first sections are built around, which is a bit of a shame. The television industry has obviously understood the impact of showing the first meeting of potential love couples.
Reality Concepts First Date and Married at first glance have proven that there is an insatiable desire for viewers to analyze every involuntarily disgusted facial expression as "the wrong prince" rises through the door and the magic that arises when two strangers take a liking to each other properly. This works well even in fiction form and the dating scenes in Dejta are embarrassing and moving in the right way.
The interaction between Maria and teenage daughter Siri (Nova Waldfogel) also offers some good scenes and personal chemistry with catering colleague Avin (Peshang Rad) makes Dejta sights despite some flaws.
Worth noting is that the genre description comedy in recent times has often come to mean "embarrassing situations occur" or "easy". Dating is not, or is, trying to be fun, but is nevertheless a habitually easy-going drama about how fun the puzzle of life and love can be.