What I'm Watching: "My Mad Fat Diary"

Oh, My Mad Fat Diary, I love you so much. If you haven't seen it yet, correct this egregious oversight immediately — all three seasons of this incredible British teen drama (based on the book by Rae Earl) are available on Hulu.

The cast — led by the fantastic Sharon Rooney — is divine and if you were a teenager in 1996 (which I was in 1996, though I was already away at university at this point), this show is like nostalgia catnip, with its soundtrack of Oasis and Fatboy Slim. (The fact that no one has mobile phones must seem so alien and bizarre to today's teens but I love seeing Rooney's Rae and Jody Comer's Chloe chatting on landline phones at their homes.) As Rae leaves the hospital and tries to put her incident behind her, she falls in with former "bessie" Chloe and Chloe's new gang of friends — including geek god Archie (Dan Cohen), quiet but strong Finn (Nico Mirallegro), goofy Chop (Jordan Murphy), and flighty Izzy (Ciara Baxendale) — and must decide whether to come clean or keep her issues a secret. But as she adjusts to life at home with her overbearing mum (Claire Rushbrook), Rae continues her therapy sessions with Kester (a fantastic Ian Hart) and maintains her relationships with her fellow patients at the hospital. Torn between both worlds, Rae seeks solace in her diary and brilliantly filmed imaginary sequences function as an ideal narrative/stylistic device to allow viewers inside Rae's mind.

My Mad Fat Diary is ultimately an insightful exploration of identity, body and food issues, mental health, peer pressure, teenage romance, and just a profound coming of age story from the perspective of a plus-size young woman in Lincolnshire. It makes for addictive and nostalgic viewing.