The Apple TV+ anthology series Little America consists of eight episodes inspired by real-life stories featured in Epic magazine’s Little America series. Each half-hour episode follows a different character(s) as they deal with universally understood challenges regarding money, family, isolation, self-worth, independence, and love. The central figures include a single mother desperate to take her kids on a memorable vacation to a young undocumented woman who redirects her anger into sports.
Created by Emily V. Gordon (Crashing, The Big Sick), Lee Eisenberg (SMILF, Good Boys), and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley,TheBig Sick), the cast and crew are as varied as the stories they tell. Already renewed for season 2, Little America doesn’t have a political agenda in spite of the current climate making it ripe for one. The series consists of multiple narratives that shine a spotlight on the human condition. Here is a ranking of every episode of Little America.
The Silence, Episode 4
Sylviane and Jack meet at a retreat where speaking is forbidden and spiritual guidance is provided by a guru played by Zachary Quinto. “The Silence” is a love story stripped of all the tropes of a typical rom-com or melodrama. Because there is no dialogue between the leads, it’s up to the actors to convey their burgeoning feelings through facial expressions and body language. Sylviane experiences premonitions about a life with Jack: one full of happiness but also sorrow.
Once the two are allowed to talk, Jack discovers Sylviane is French. But after days of finding creative ways to nurture their romance, a language barrier isn’t insurmountable. Finding out what two people have in common is far more interesting than focusing on what sets them apart.
The Rock, Episode 7
Iranian born Faraz is a visionary. He sees potential where there are obstacles, and while his business ventures might strike others as odd (he sells quail eggs), his optimism never diminishes. When his son Behrad decides to move into an apartment with his friends, Faraz becomes determined to build his family a dream house, so he can tempt Behrad to stay put.
Faraz buys a piece of property occupied by a gigantic rock that he becomes obsessed with removing. This turns out to be a Sisyphean task. Faraz’s choices don’t always make sense, especially when he squanders his family’s savings on a plot of uninhabitable land. But “The Rock” is a not so subtle metaphor for Faraz’s tenacity and the unyielding love and support of family.
The Grand Expo Winners, Episode 6
On “The Grand Expo Winners,” Ai is a single mom whose life revolves around her son Bo and daughter Cheng. After years of trying and failing to win a luxury vacation, Ai is finally rewarded with an Alaskan cruise. The trip confirms her worst fears: her kids are growing up and pulling away from her. She’s also plagued by flashbacks of herself as a young girl traveling with her parents by boat: a journey that ends with her being sold off to an older, childless couple.
Left to wander the cruise ship alone, Ai looks small and joyless, and her feelings of isolation are palpable: she’s a woman abandoned by her biological parents, her husband, and her children. She sings karaoke, belting out Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” which turns out to be pretty a cathartic moment. Ai begins to loosen the grasp on her children ever so slightly, and in doing so, she discovers not only can she survive on her own but find joy as well.
The Cowboy, Episode 3
As a young boy growing up in Nigeria, Iwegbuna Ikeji used to watch old westerns with his father and brother. This no doubt contributes to his decision to move to Oklahoma to attend college. As he struggles to assimilate, he communicates to his family via cassette tapes, and he envisions them all together whenever they speak.
The pressure to fit in is the focus of “The Cowboy” as Ikeji has one foot stuck in Nigeria and another in the U.S., trying to maintain his connection to one while building a new life in the other. Ikeji runs out to buy cowboy boots and a hat, but it’s not the garb that turns things around for Ikeji. Although it does tap into a part of him, his past and his country that he relates to. It’s the hard reality that sometimes you can’t go home again, so you do the best to make a new one where you are.
The Manager, Episode 1
Twelve-year-old Kabir’s parents leave him behind with an ambivalent caretaker when they are deported to India on “The Manager.” Kabir begins writing letters to government agencies pleading his parents’ case. He turns his attention to the National Spelling Bee after he’s told there’s a chance he’ll get to meet the first lady. This far-fetched plan comes to fruition but aside from sympathy, Laura Bush offers Kabir nothing else.
The formerly precocious Kabir becomes an unremarkable teenager. By the time Kabir’s parents return, they are strangers to their son and he to them. In the final moments despite voicing their hopes to the contrary, it’s obvious nobody is happy. Tears well up in Kabir’s eyes as he realizes his life has been a series of letdowns including this long-awaited reunion.
The Baker, Episode 5
Beatrice leaves Uganda to attend college on “The Baker.” Years later, she’s a divorced single mother who gets fired from her waitressing job because she can’t afford childcare. Despite her mother’s nagging that Beatrice returns home, she’s convinced she can make it on her own selling homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Dressed in her best thrift store suit, Beatrice stands outside the local grocery store trying to attract customers. It’s only when she dons African garb and begins carrying her baked goods in a basket balanced on her head around that Beatrice successfully builds a brand. Somewhere along the way, the idea of the American dream has died. Not among the throngs of people who still flock to the borders every day but from within where such opportunities are suddenly believed to be in such short supply, there’s no room for outsiders.
The Jaguar, Episode 2
Marisol, her mother, and her older brother are all undocumented immigrants. They live in a dilapidated garage. Marisol’s mother cleans houses, her brother does manual labor, and Marisol attends school where she’s prone to violent outbursts. When she sees a flyer for an urban squash league, Marisol decides to check it out for the free shoes and winds up finding her passion.
“The Jaguar” doesn’t gloss over the class difference. At a fundraising benefit, Marisol encounters one of her mother’s employers and the talk turns from the possibility of attending an Ivy League college to how much everyone loves that Marisol still has a chip on her shoulder, convinced that every call made against her is due to the color of her skin. She’s ready to throw away her future until her coach reminds her that nobody is guaranteed a second chance.
The Son, Episode 8
On “The Son, “Rafiq is a Syrian man who flees his home after his father discovers he’s gay and holds his arm over a gas flame as a warning of what eternity holds. He takes a job in Damascus where he meets Zain who is as out and proud as a gay man can be in Syria and who guides Rafiq through the process of seeking asylum. When Rafiq finally arrives in the United States, he’s reunited with Zain who takes Rafiq on his first-ever outing to a gay club.
After watching Rafiq live in fear and approach everything and everyone with timidity or suspicion, it’s incredibly emotional to see him end up somewhere so inclusive. Who knew that a drag queen lip-synching to Kelly Clarkson could bring someone to tears. Because no subtitles are used in any of the episodes, the audience can’t understand the two-line letter written in Arabic Rafiq sends his father. But hopefully, it’s “I’m in America, I’m happy and I love you.”
