Hello (Again) – A Review

There have been many entries in the “do-over” genre of storytelling. You have the “A Christmas Carol” version where someone on a dark path revisits their past and/or glimpses their future, sparking a change in their present. The classic time-loop model ala “Groundhog Day,” where the protagonist relives the same day on repeat. Then you have the alternate reality one where a big event trigger sends the protagonist into the past or alternate present, ala “The Family Man,” so the protagonist can find out what they’re missing in life. Hello (Again) from co-creators Simi Liu and Nathalie Younglai is a combination of the latter two (with a little bit of the first, which I will get to later).

Not long into the pilot, we get a meet-cute between Jayden (played by Alex Mallari Jr.) and Avery (played by Rong Fu). It’s a classic bump into each other and instant chemistry. The pilot quickly moves us through their falling-in-love montage and gets them moved in together. Then we moved into a device I really enjoyed. They utilized a series of on-screen texts combined with additions and removals of things pinned to their fridge to show the passage of time and the dissolution of their connection. All leading up to their inevitable fight, Avery leaving, and kicking off the events the series promises with its title and premise. Jayden going back in time and meeting Avery again for the first time (Again).

First off, meet-cutes are cheesy, and Rong Fu and Alex Mallari Jr. have to do a number of them throughout the series (to varying degrees of success) and they do a great job of selling them. There should be nothing romantic and charming about a guy bumping into you while holding raw chickens in his arms, and yet, watching that first meet-cute, I was smiling right along with Avery by the end of the scene.

One of my favourite characters in a time-loop story is the person who readily believes the protagonist about the time loop and helps them when they ask. In Hello (Again), that character is Douggie (played by Araya Mengesha). He is both endlessly supportive of Jayden in his attempts to woo Avery and rolls with every curve ball Jayden throws. He’s consistent from the pilot (pre-loop) with one stated goal, he wants to open a food truck with Jayden to serve the kind of food their boss won’t let them.

Now, the “A Christmas Carol” aspect came in the form of Willa (played by Rebecca Chan), who acted as a kind of guide/being who triggered the alternate timeline/time-loop. In the pilot episode, she was used to great effect, with a lot of good comedy in the ambulance. In later episodes, I was less sure of her continued effectiveness as a device, however, I trusted that the writers had a plan and a payoff for her, and in the finale, this belief was proven correct.

The 9 episodes range from just over 7 minutes to just under 11 minutes (there is a glitch on the CBC Gem website right now that has episodes 5 and 6 clocking in at 44 minutes, but that is wrong and may be corrected by the time you are reading this). If you’re ready for a charming rom-com with a lot of food porn this is a web series for you. All 9 episodes are available on CBC Gem.