My Grievances with "Étoile" (So Far)

Amy Sherman-Palladino's latest is underwhelming me.

Étoile on Prime [Trailer] is an eight-episode drama and character study about the cutthroat world of ballet by Girlmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASM), and her husband and creative partner, Dan Palladino.

The premise is that two competing premier ballet companies in New York and Paris are struggling to stay afloat and remain relevant. To do so, they devise a business idea helmed and funded by a rich autocrat named Crispin (Simon Callow, Four Weddings & A Funeral), who is probably the least underutilized actor here. The idea is to temporarily trade top brass talent at each company to boost interest and ticket sales.

Luke as the hypnotic, sad, and soulful Lenny, who was also bright, witty, and brilliant—and tragic, too.

New York’s ballet company, is led by Luke Kirby as Jack McMillan who was so convincing as Lenny Bruce in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that it feels sacreligious to see his talents wasted here in staid dialogue and unconvincing sexual chemistry with the Paris director, Geneviève Lavigne played by the original Nepo baby, Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of Serge and the woman who inspired the overpriced Hermès Birkin bag, ‘60s model Jane Birkin. Charlotte is a good actress, don’t get me wrong—but even she occasionally slips into self-conscious moments where, as she speaks, you can tell she’s thinking, “What am I doing?”

Left: Serge (father), Older Sister, Jane (mother), Charlotte; R: Charlotte and her mom, Jane Birkin

Here’s my list of grievances so far, likely to be informed further after I finish the series:

• The Kirk-like “funny, quirky” guy, Tobias Bell—aka “The Genius Choreographer.” Much like Kirk from Gilmore Girls, Tobias in Étoile comes across as eccentric and socially oblivious; these kinds of characters often seem neurotic, intensely fixated, and unaware of their surroundings. Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP) is great at creating characters like this—Kirk being a standout example, and maybe even Rory Gilmore to some extent, but even Kirk tires after a while. In Étoile, the genius choreographer Tobias is introduced at an international press conference. Instead of revealing his identity and taking the moment to introduce himself to a global audience properly, he launches into a complaint about being unable to find his favorite toothpaste in France. It’s not quirky or endearing. It’s cringe.

  

  L: Kirk in Gilmore Girls and R: Tobias Bell in Etoile

• Main Character Cheyenne, the prima ballerina, lacks any rizz and is straight-up annoying, and why it matters. Cheyenne’s outbursts are framed as over-the-top diva behavior, but they mostly reflect how worn out the trope of the “strong-willed woman pushing back against the system” has become.

  It raises the question: Is Amy Sherman-Palladino capable of creating a modern-day version of a successful Lorelai Gilmore or Midge Maisel in the form of Cheyenne, the eccentric, chaotic lead?

  The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel may have worked because its period setting gave that type of character more texture. Midge, the protagonist of Mrs. Maisel, shares traits with Cheyenne—both are bright, sassy, irreverent, and bold—but their execution sets them apart. The same goes for Lorelai Gilmore. Midge leads with grace and humor, and the show, along with her family, channels the spirit of the Housemans from Dirty Dancing—a Jewish family navigating the 1960s. She is very much of her period and place. As is Lorelei. In both of those shows, the city or town is like a side character. Cheyenne, by contrast, feels hollow, two-dimensional, and grating in her try-hard eccentricity. She lacks depth, clarity, and perhaps most of all, a sense of belonging—like a character in search of a story that never quite materializes.

  

  L: Midge Maisel takes the stage with humility and grace; R: Cheyenne's eco-warrior passion project lands her in prison

• No Female Friendship /Lady Friends/Besties: Cheyenne lacks a grounded, mature female counterpart to balance out her chaos and help guide her toward moments of growth. This show is missing a Sookie (Gilmore Girls) or a Susie (Mrs. Maisel). Ironically, the closest connection she forms is with a 12-year-old aspiring ballerina named Susu (see a pattern here?), whose mom works as a cleaner at the ballet studio where she secretly records lessons and replays them so Susu can practice at the studio at night. As the story goes, they are so poor that the girl has to borrow other students’ shoes and cannot afford formal training. While Cheyenne is impressed by her talent, mentoring a kid doesn’t make her a peer. Susu isn’t a foil—she’s a Wunderkind. And Cheyenne needs an adult who isn’t trying to bed her or whom she isn’t trying to manipulate in some power play to tell it to her straight.

  

  Susie (Maisel), Sookie (Gilmore Girls), and Susu (Etoile): One is a child

The Good Stuff:

• This show makes me miss New York in the springtime; the exteriors of Lincoln Center are gorgeous.

• The end credits of each episode zoom in on the ballet studio and dancers practicing their technique, which is mesmerizing.

• Amy Sherman-Palladino loves ballet. This show is a testament to that, even if it occasionally focuses on flat characters. I never saw Bunheads (2012), which wasn’t a critical or commercial hit, but it was her first love letter to dance.

• Witty, fast repartee is where Sherman-Palladino generally shines. Perhaps it’s lost in translation here, as a result of balancing between a bilingual setup, which impacts the execution, but there are glimmers of it.

Now It’s Your Turn:

What are your hot takes on this show? Is it a hit? Miss?

Related Reading

Rebecca Deniston

has a series dedicated to the Gilmore Girls. Check it out.

The Power of Female Friendship: