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Lucia Keskin, a 23-year-old performer and author, rose to fame on YouTube. Using the alias Chi With a C, she has gained nearly 500,000 followers with videos that incorporate a mix of comedic content, musical performances, and parodies of popular shows. Keskin’s talents also include spot-on impressions, with her portrayal of Sofía Vergara on Modern Family being particularly noteworthy.

Keskin is the writer and lead actor of the new sitcom, Things You Should Have Done. She portrays Chi, a 20-year-old who describes herself as a “stay-at-home daughter”. Chi’s parents were tragically killed in a car accident, leaving her an orphan. The only thing found in the aftermath of the accident was a ready-to-eat meal, which the police somberly give to Chi as they inform her of her new status. She jokingly asks if it’s too soon to eat the meal.

We are beginning our journey – not towards a competition, but towards Chi’s clumsy, inadequate attempts at learning to live on her own. Her parents have entrusted her with the house – to the displeasure of her mother’s uptight sibling, Karen (played by Selin Hizli), who can only envision chaos and trouble occurring with her niece in charge. (In one instance, Chi struggles to figure out how to properly sit on a chair.)

The house belongs to her, but only if she meets certain requirements set by her parents, including opening a bank account, understanding the function of a clock, showing empathy towards others, making a new friend, reading a book, learning to drive, and more.

Following the initial episode, this driving force of the storyline gradually diminishes, as less structured and more chaotic events take center stage. We witness Chi’s household malfunctioning, with unpaid bills scattered on the mat (“I don’t understand what those brown and white shapes mean”). We also observe her determination to celebrate Pancake Day as a significant family tradition, as well as her stumble upon a nearby retirement home, where the lack of responsibilities for its inhabitants entices her to join.

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Karen’s husband, Dave (played by Daniel Fearn), is a kind-hearted delivery driver who also happens to be a conspiracy theorist. He believes that Joe Biden is actually a character portrayed by Jim Carrey. One of Dave’s favorite delivery destinations is the retirement home, where he brings boxes of medication. He enthusiastically shares that the residents seem to really enjoy their deliveries and compares it to a drug-like high for them.

Despite having a healthy sperm count, he and Karen have been unsuccessful in their attempts to have a baby. She is unaware of his fertility and he fears her reaction if she were to find out she may be the reason for their struggles. Dave has a son named Lucas, who takes after his kind-hearted father but lacks skills for navigating life, much like Chi. When his absent mother reappears, it’s hard not to sympathize with his selfless nature. As for Chi, it’s easy to want to toss him into the ocean.

Things You Should Have Done has a fine cast, some good moments (Karen sleep-complaining; the enduring incomprehension of Chi and Lucas about the role of a solicitor; the seamlessly integrated parodies of Nigella) and plenty of unrealised potential on show. The death of Chi’s parents is just a device – and a potentially wasted one at that: it doesn’t make it in any way a show about grief, which might have provided more depth.

Some viewers may appreciate the surreal scenes and unique ways in which Chi is portrayed as thick. However, the show shines when Karen or Lucas bring it back to reality, either emotionally or practically (such as sitting in chairs properly). In these instances, Things You Should Have Done no longer feels like a disjointed collection of half-baked concepts.

Source: theguardian.com