Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair's brilliant portrait of New York City and the interactions between drug dealer and customer makes its return today. High Maintenance released three new episodes for its fifth season and second on Vimeo's on demand service.
Two of the new episodes feature returning characters who, like in season four, make the series feel more like a sophisticated sitcom. The characters revolving around the nameless weed dealer (Sinclair) are becoming more familiar and complex. When Kabir makes his return in "Sabrina" we already know him as the irresponsible player from "Dinah." It's hard not to mutter, "classic Kabir," when he brings home a rando or during the hilarious reveal at the end of the episode, despite his relatively short screen time compared to more traditional TV shows.
"Sufjan" captures the struggle of NYC real estate even better than High Maintenance's outrageous foray into the seeedy world of Airbnb in "Trixie." Couple Reagan and Ezra (from last season's "Genghis") are forced out of Williamsburg by rising rent and move to Ditmas Park, which might as well be Siberia to their friends back in the 'Burg and Bushwick. "I feel like unless you're born rich or have some corporate, fucking soul-crushing job you can basically just go fuck yourself," Reagan says in a sentiment echoed by all non-corporate New Yorkers at one point or another.
"Esme," however, is all about the new character. Our nameless drug dealer gets his first rival in the form of a Orly, an obnoxious but ambitious member of a female collective of pot dealers. She's totally in the wrong when she throws a tantrum after showing up hours late for a deal because she was too busy bombing an audition. Yet we still feel her pain because who hasn't failed spectacularly in New York? It's a right of passage.
Head here to purchase individual episodes for $1.99 each or $7.99 for the last six episodes.
