I May Destroy You (BBC One, Mon/Tues nights)

[Shaun]

Stars Michaela Coel (of Chewing Gum fame) and has gotten super good reviews, but I haven't caught any of it yet

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Anyone been watching?

[Braden]

I watched the first two episodes and couldn't get my head around it but I genuinely think it will make a good series so I'm sticking with it.

Micaela Coel is excellent.

[Headie]

Binged the first six episodes in one night. It’s sooooo good!

[GoldHeart]

What's it about ??

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by GoldHeart

What's it about ??

I think she wakes up the day after a night out and can't remember what happened but the implication is that she was raped/assaulted.

[Braden]

Yeah, this is spectacular.

[Samm]

halfway through this. it's bloody amazing. such a good series on all aspects of sexual assault and the emotions that come with it.

[Shaun]

I just binged the first three episodes and it's fantastic, definitely up there with Killing Eve and Fleabag in terms of "the best things on the BBC in the past decade+"... was Chewing Gum as good as this? Because if so I might have to watch, Michaela Coel is brilliant in this and her writing is great too.

[Shaun]

that finale was honestly frightening

[user17866]

...I wasn’t sure if there was a thread....

....I’ve just started to watch this...I think that I might be watching episode 5-ish atm and it’s so totally and completely absorbing... Michaela Coel is incredible as Arabella and obviously a wonderful writer as well...

[user17866]

...I binge watched the whole series because once you pick it up, it’s impossible to lay it down again to even pause for breath...and it’s right up there as one of the best ever watches, for me......

....the last episode was just...WOW and perfectly done, I felt...

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

4 eps into this and i love it

[Jake.]

Watched this over Christmas and loved it

[Bollo]

I watched it avidly went it came out, I was absolutely hooked it was compelling , Brilliant writing and acting.. I went on to watch Chewing gum and you can see the complete difference in writing styles..it is horrible to think that what happened to Michaelea in between writing both series inspired I may destroy you..

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Bollo

I watched it avidly went it came out, I was absolutely hooked it was compelling , Brilliant writing and acting.. I went on to watch Chewing gum and you can see the complete difference in writing styles..it is horrible to think that what happened to Michaelea in between writing both series inspired I may destroy you..

I didn't realise she was actually writing about herself, I am on ep 4

hen she was writing the second series of Chewing Gum, Michaela Coel took a break from work and went out for a drink with a friend.

The next morning, she woke up and started having flashbacks. Michaela realised her drink had been spiked and she'd been sexually assaulted.

This real-life experience became the basis for her new BBC One show, I May Destroy You, which she wrote, co-directed and stars in.

"It took me two and a half years all in all to write it and I didn't do any other job," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"It's been quite hard but cathartic because I'm reflecting on a dark time rather than feeling it is happening to me right now."

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Marsh.

I think she wakes up the day after a night out and can't remember what happened but the implication is that she was raped/assaulted.

It sounds a bit like that Cop Show that Netflix made.

Unbreakable or Unbelievable, something like that anyway.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Bollo

I watched it avidly went it came out, I was absolutely hooked it was compelling , Brilliant writing and acting.. I went on to watch Chewing gum and you can see the complete difference in writing styles..it is horrible to think that what happened to Michaelea in between writing both series inspired I may destroy you..

The actress was assaulted in real life?

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Cherie

I didn't realise she was actually writing about herself, I am on ep 4

hen she was writing the second series of Chewing Gum, Michaela Coel took a break from work and went out for a drink with a friend.

The next morning, she woke up and started having flashbacks. Michaela realised her drink had been spiked and she'd been sexually assaulted.

This real-life experience became the basis for her new BBC One show, I May Destroy You, which she wrote, co-directed and stars in.

"It took me two and a half years all in all to write it and I didn't do any other job," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"It's been quite hard but cathartic because I'm reflecting on a dark time rather than feeling it is happening to me right now."

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

The actress was assaulted in real life?

.

[hijaxers]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...I binge watched the whole series because once you pick it up, it’s impossible to lay it down again to even pause for breath...and it’s right up there as one of the best ever watches, for me......

....the last episode was just...WOW and perfectly done, I felt...

Last episode very sad though ~ i didn't want it to end so tragically .

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Right what the fuck was the final episode

[Shaun]

When I watched this I was unaware that Coel had actually been writing from experience; so I'm struggling to remember the finale under that impression. I remember finding it odd at the time but with this new information I'd guess:

Spoiler:

Since she's admitted to using the series as a form of escapism, wanting to commit to work and writing and not really emotionally confront the gravity of what had happened to her; she used the finale to explore multiple possibilities to see which best suited her?

I remember finding it intense and really well done but at the same time a little frustrating to watch because I wanted a resolution... but I guess the whole point is that rape victims never really get a "resolution" either.

[user17866]

..the ending.../Scott..?....

Spoiler:

...as Shaun said, so many who have experienced sexual assault don’t get the closure or justice that there would be and pursuing it will often extend the attack of making the female feel the one on trial... of her behaviour in some way being an explanation or excuse for what someone else did to her..the way that I interpreted it is of her finding her own ‘closure’ or own way of going forward, I should say...of not having it impact or define her whole life and taking back her control..she obviously wrote the whole thing to help with that process, I would say and her story hasn’t had an ending, in the ‘justice’ type way...she’s exploring the endings as possibilities with how she would feel about them if she could ‘write an outcome to her awful experience...’ ...and how at peace she would be with them../..the possibilities etc...so she’s considering them in extremes of forgiveness, which would be for herself, rather than him...?...refusing to let it determine her whole life...to that movie type revenge ending of killing him...which would continue to define and determine and impact her life but would have that sense of ultimate revenge ...there may be ‘fantasy’ endings but reality is more that so often, a victim just won’t have closure and has to find their own way of knowing that person is just living their life and never having to face any consequences while their own ‘flashbacks’ will continue on...I really loved the ending(s) in that they were hers to explore in any way that she felt the need to e pore and release for cathartic/her control value ...

[Bollo]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

The actress was assaulted in real life?

Yes from what i gather she was finishing the writing of Chewing gum at the studio and she went for a drink in a bar round the corner with a friend and was drugged and assaulted by two men...so it is in part semi autobiographical, which is horrible...

[Cherie]

I can't say I am particularly gripped by this like I was with The Serpent and It's a Sin, I am still on ep 4, and still got 4 more to go but not sure if I will finish it

[Niamh.]

Trying not to read other posts in here till I've finished it but finally found somewhere to watch this, 3 episodes in Michaela Coel is excellent. It's really grittily honest so far, I'm enjoying it