Would you mind falling in love with a person you connect with instantly and talk to for hours over regular late-night video calls? The slow spark between Danny and Lisa builds up at the very beginning of the series Still Up without their realizing it. The romantic comedy thrives on the worlds of the two friends who are insomniacs, catching up with each other on routine late-night video calls. Created by Steve Burge and Natalie Walter, the handling of the major characters has been left to the deft hands of Craig Roberts and Antonia Thomas. The comic-buildup on romance is sudden and unexpected at the end of the episode when the characters match on the dating app, before which everything seemed to be a platonic conversation between the two friends.
Spoiler Alert
The bond between Danny and Lisa grows at a slow pace. But it’s sure to take greater turns in the future. We are to witness the gradual but beautiful development of a romantic relationship that springs through late-night calls between the two, starting to make sense right from the beginning. The theory that opposites attract is very much applicable for the two characters who have been introduced in the first episode. Lisa, being a social person and more of an extrovert, gels well with Danny, who avoids going out.
Would accepting the love that they feel for each other make their lives weirdly complex? That is something for us to find out as we progress through the episode.
What Does Danny Do to Avoid Social Contact?
We see Danny hiding out at his place as he calls Lisa. On being questioned, he states that he was trying to avoid the birthday celebration of his neighbor’s cat. He does not hesitate to lie about him being out on a trip to Disneyland to everyone, but he spits everything out to Lisa. He does not mind going to the lengths of sneaking in pizza slices through the window at the back of his house to avoid running into his neighbor. The comic escalation with the arrival of the pizza delivery guy sits in good alignment with that of the comic element in the episode. He is a dedicated journalist who tries to avoid all human contact other than talking to Lisa. Lisa brings up the fact that he doesn’t like going out and therefore suggests that he tries one of the dating apps. Danny resents the idea at first but later accepts and states his criteria and his talents to Lisa for her to make a profile for him. The details stated by Danny make his character open up to the audience, and we get to know him better in the process.
Why did Lisa leave her house late at night?
Lisa is out on a hunt for medication at a pharmaceutical store for her daughter, Poppy, who is down with chicken pox. She converses with Danny as she waits on the pharmacist at the store. She tells Danny how she hid Poppy’s face under a sheep mask before sending her off to school to hide the fact that she had chicken pox. She later makes a call to her husband to check up on her daughter, which brings out her nature as a caring mother. She, however, resumes her call with Danny and notices the mother of one of her daughters’ classmates coming into the pharmacy. She tries hiding but fails miserably and is told that even her daughter has chicken pox now, which might have spread at school because of her sending Poppy to school. She later feels guilty and tries to leave the store as soon as possible before coming into contact with the parent of another infected child.
Lisa takes Danny’s advice and tries paying for the medication through her card as the pharmacist is unavailable, but ends up paying more, so she has to wait for a refund. She rebukes Danny, saying that it was his idea and now she has to wait. This brings out their bittersweet relationship as good friends, advising each other and having each other’s backs. She tries setting him up on a dating app, as he is antisocial and has not met a woman in ages! The emotional accumulation in Lisa is seen when Danny talks about a romantic encounter with his ex-girlfriend. The sentimental proliferations in the episode are broken and balanced with occasional drops of comedy. Lisa, however, sees that the pharmacist is lying dead on the floor and shows her remorse to Danny. He consoles her, and they continue their chitter chatter on the dating application. When the profile of Danny is complete, she sees that it matches that of her own profile, and she remembers that she had not deleted the application. She, however, ignores the match and does not tell Danny about it. The match ignites a little spark in her heart, which is quite visible to us through the glimmer in her eyes.
Final Words
The modern-day romance comedy Still Up stirs several emotions in the audience. From the way the characters have been introduced in the very first episode, it is quite evident that they will fit right into the vibe of the cute couple next door. A beautiful romance springing out of a friendship is nothing new, and a lot of us will be able to relate to it. But the social barriers that would lie before Lisa would be her role as a dedicated mother and another man’s wife. The drama might be comedic in nature, but it gives us all a reality check of how lonely we all are despite having a partner and how we all seek to pour our hearts out to a special person. We will not get a clear idea of the romantic transition in Lisa’s life until we watch the next episodes. The spark could just be momentary or might influence their decisions in a way that would change their lives completely.
