Hamm robs his “Friends and Neighbors”

Apple is losing a lot of money on AppleTV+; apparently, it's a billion dollars a year. The truth is, it doesn't matter since they are a technology company more than a streaming company. It's a shame, though, because AppleTV is the most consistent streaming service I subscribe to. Their latest is "Your Friends and Neighbors."

When Andrew Cooper (Jon Hamm) is fired from his hedge fund job, he is desperate to maintain his lifestyle. He starts breaking into his friends' houses to steal things they won't miss and pawns them to make ends meet.

Hamm is one of those actors who is incredibly watchable on screen. Even when I was getting tired of "Mad Men," his portrayal of Don Draper kept me watching. He is excellent here as well. Coop is so entrenched in the lifestyle of the wealthy. He wants to keep up appearances and refuses to tell anyone what happened. He realizes that the people around him all of this stuff that are nothing more than status symbols. He begins by taking small things, some cash and watches, but if the last episode is any indication, that will change.

And that is where my worries start. The show opens with Coop waking up during one of his robberies next to a dead body. The thing is, I've seen this story a hundred times before. He will take bigger risks, someone is going to find out, or the police might actually start to care, and his life will get more complicated. I'm honestly trying to figure out if Jon Hamm is charming enough to get me through that part of the story.

Despite that above rambling, I am enjoying the show. I like its basic idea and am mostly interested to see where it goes. Overall, the show is easy to watch, which is something I am coming to value more in a show. It's not one of those shows where tons of questions are asked or anything to theorize about. The show is pretty straightforward: Coop needs money, steals from one of his "friends," and pawns the item, and the cycle repeats with slight variations.

I may have qualms about where the story is going, but I do plan to finish this season. There is always a chance that it avoids the well-worn path of similar stories. In the meantime, watching Jon Hamm do his Don Hamm thing is worth investing in "Your Friends and Neighbors."

"Your Friends and Neighbors" is on AppleTV+ every Thursday.