Normal People and 4 More Captivating TV Series That Explore Relationships

These projects take viewers into the exciting world of family bonds, the experiences of the characters and their complex relationships. From kindness to conflict and reconciliation, these series tell deep and surprising stories of love, loyalty and growth.

1. Easy, 2016-2019

In a way, it's the perfect series for the age of streaming and binge-watching: 25 half-hour sketches of modern urban life about love, sex and the experiments that go with it; if you don't like one story, just wait for the next.

At the same time, Easy was never a critical darling, remaining a hidden treasure – as were other projects by Joe Swanberg, who elevated mumblecore to high art when everyone else had moved on.

2. You're the Worst, 2014-2019

You're the Worst is a rare show that demonstratively refuses to romanticize the love relationships between the characters. Instead, the real side of sex, with all its awkwardness and unsightliness, appears more and more often on screen.

However, this approach is largely due to the show's plot, whose main character literally hates sentimentality. By fate, he meets a woman who shares his personal priorities. This relationship is probably far from exemplary, and yet the main characters sincerely try to be honest not only with themselves, but also with the audience.

3. Normal People, 2020

Sally Rooney's novel Normal People quickly gained literary acclaim – the author was instantly dubbed "the voice of a generation," and the novel itself became a modern classic, reflecting the experience of growing up for yesterday's schoolchildren.

The adaptation of Normal People was a pleasant surprise, transforming a rather dry and action-oriented novel into a vibrant, intimate and sensual series. On the small screen, Rooney's characters, impeccably played by Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones, began to breathe – they fell in love, fought, were jealous of each other, and broke up so naturally that this irrational behavior was, for once, empathetic.

4. Transparent, 2014-2019

Perhaps no other show has ever been written about so enthusiastically – perhaps only The Leftovers evoked such an inexplicable, sad-tinged love in reviewers toward the end.

Transparent – the story of the restless Pfefferman family patriarch Morton, who opens up to his children and becomes matriarch Maura – demonstrated more vividly than any other the complexities of the new world, in which gender is a choice and fluid sexuality is a search for a way forward.

Transparent pushed the boundaries of the familiar and introduced important – and in every way non-binary – stories to pop culture.

5. Casual, 2015-2018

Zander Lehmann's weightless and little-known romantic comedy Casual was released on Hulu in the second half of the 2010s. The plot revolves around a bachelor, his divorced sister and her teenage daughter who find themselves under the same roof.

There is a type of series that does not move, but flutters, forcing you to watch more without offering extreme plot twists. As the title suggests, Casual promises nothing, but gives you the feeling of gliding through life, which you want to continue – and which you are not afraid to stop at any moment.