Selfie - Pilot - Review : "How Are You, Amy Pond?"

"This is a full review of the Pilot Episode, if you've not already watched it be advised that it will contain spoilers"

"The funny thing is people used to call me butt ugly, in my seventh grade yearbook I was literally voted 'Most Butt' so I took a lesson from Corynn McWatters, I blow out my curls and pushed up the girls, corrected my vision, stepped up my nutrition, traded likes for likes and before long I was Instafamous!"

#Selfie is about media obsessed Eliza Dooley and Marketing Extraordinaire Henry (He took satanic hallucination pills and re-branded them) loosely based of 'My Fair Lady' from Emily Kapnek, the woman behind Suburgatory.

We begin whilst taking a #Selfie on a plane to the sound of #LetMeTakeASelfie.

Eliza believes she has all the friends in the world, the "love and respect" of her co-workers since she has 263,000 friends, followers and Insta-aquanitances, that is until she has a #ThatAwkwardMoment. It just so happens Eliza's boyfriend is married which she quickly finds out and like any rational person she starts vomiting in her airline sickness bag. What's even worse is that her vomit is too thick it starts to dampen the bottom of the bag which shes unaware of as shes walking down her #runway, and then band it goes #viral.

In all that awkwardness, she still manages to impress the flight attendant with her body and manages to utilize some flight blankets as a some sort of "sarong".

Later that same day, shes home to her luxurious apartment complex where in the elevator are some of the perceived "Less Popular Girls'. Eliza quickly jumps into the conversation she overhears between the two since she believes there talking about her but there not #obsessed #paranoid.

Eliza makes a breakthrough laying in the bath, when "Siri is the only person whose there for you, it kinda makes you realize that being friended is not the same as having friends" (If only I could add a light bulb emoji) Can I just say what idiotic friends wouldn't buy Karen Gillan a ginger ale #bloodyidiots

The next day, Eliza's at work, dodging her co-workers yet no one forgot her #nofilter puke explosion, so she decides to enlist Henry's help, he's unwilling at first but gives in, I mean who wouldn't, it's Raggedy Man's buddy asking for help.

Lesson 1: Talk to your co-workers
Lesson 2: Practice being a member of society at your bosses daughter wedding #BringADate

Since Eliza like any shopoholic maxed out her credit cards, she seeks help from the girls on her floor, there quite nice, they have a sing-a-long to Bad Romance and turn Eliza into the beautiful swan she is, without all the extra makeup and short clothes (I hope we learn more about them and there not the stereotypical nerdy friends who just hang around for a while with no real purpose). Henry comes to pick up Eliza but we all know he's taken by her beauty.

During the wedding we learn about Eliza and how she feels that "no one will ever look at her the way Terence was looking at her" (Her bosses daughter is getting married) so she does what she always does to distract herself from her feelings in the midst of a touching story comes the rude app game sounds coming from her iPhone, everyone is staring at her #mortified #sorrynotsorry

Church bells ring whilst Eliza and Henry fight inside the church #sad #sademoji but then Henry says Eliza's a "lost cause" her face drops and she responds "super mean" trowing her super wee purse at him.

The next day Eliza decides to go back to "social networking because the worlds too mean" but Charmonique's son has a chat with her, she's too busy rinsing out his lunchbox #FirstWorldProblems
Charmonique returns and Eliza and her have a "friendly exchange" about Bane followed by some laughs and a high five, I really liked this scene, she's becoming more human, more social and realizes Henry is helping her.

Eliza goes to Henry's house, scratching at the door like a stray kitty. Henry and Eliza have a meaningful conversation involving "feels" but he comes around, "sometimes we all need a push". The conversation between them is great, they definietly have chemistry and work well of each other. Eliza's about to take a selfie before Henry says here to stop and start "living" but before she does she pushes him into the rain and they laugh (Karen has such a cute laugh), Eliza also invites Henry to Soul Cycle before our pilot episode fades to black.

Best Quotes:
Henry: "You are addicted to the instant gratification of unearned adulation from a group of strangers you insist on referring to as your 'friends'"
Henry: [She's not a packaging product] "but yet the same rules apply"
Henry: "Makeup should be light, your dress less tight, hair should be tame, your face softly framed, no six inch heels, no cleavage revealed, nothing coarse, nothing sleazy and bring a wrap in case its breezy"
Henry: "No wedding selfies, today's about focusing on a beauty other than your own"
Eliza: "You are an unfun man and according to you ex girlfriends blog that's why she broke up with you"
Henry: "Did you Google me, don't you dare Google me"
Eliza: "The Wedding gave me feels"

Verdict: 7/10 B

Selfie leads are charming, Karen is definitely quite funny and us Whovians know this. John Cho is awesome, he 's funny and kind too. One complaint, I wish Karen was allowed to keep her adorable Scottish accent but she pulls of a killer American accent. If anything the show is carried by the two leads and I think ABC has some of the best casting of the pilot season with Karen Gillan and John Cho.




Props to ABC for having a lead role played by an American Korean guy, definitely part of their #Diversity plan with shows like Fresh of the Boat, Cristella, How To Get Away With Murder and American Crime.

Selfie has a lot of potential, I think they could have a great show, they need to balance out the supporting characters a bit more, Charmonique was great. The show was quite funny, I'm sure it will be popular amongst girls but I'm watching for Karen and John too, both great actors.

Personally, the show is quite truthful, I read alot of science fiction and it seems as if people are becoming anti-social, I see it at University, more people are using iPhones, laptops and social media as forms of escape like Eliza. I see people taking photos of there Starbucks coffee during a lecture, it shows you this show isn't missing the point. Eliza is like a lot of people, take me, I'm usually always checking Spoiler TV when I wake up and before I go to sleep, maybe I should get some help. Eithier way, Selfie is the ABC Comedy I've been waiting for since it was picked up besides Fresh of the Boat.

Selfie has a really nice score, I didn't except them to be playing quaint, orchestral sounding music in the background, definitely heightens the shows quality.

I hope this show does well, it's Karen's first American TV show and I hope it does well for her or else I'll get Ronan the Accuser on everyone who doesn't watch this!.

Also can we please get Arthur Darvill or Matt Smith on the show, they could play her friends or old boyfriends or anything.

The best thing about Selfie is Amy Pond and Sulu otherwise know as #KarenGillan and #JohnCho. I definitely recommend this to #Whovians, #SleepyHeads, #Trekkies, #SocialMediaObssedPeople #GOTGFans and anyone who loves a lighthearted, fun comedy (or Karen Gillan/John Cho) that will only improve like a good app, with one out of seven updates.

Disclaimer: Please excuse the #Hashtags, they are part of the #feels of the show.

About the Author - Nirat Anop

Nirat watches a lot of TV Shows, some of his favorites are Sleepy Hollow, The 100, Orphan Black, Once Upon a Time, Outlander, Teen Wolf, Gotham, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow, Sherlock, Doctor Who, The Legend of Korra, and The Goldbergs. He was born in South Africa and now lives in New Zealand. He's a University Student. He will be reviewing Selfie, A to Z and Mission Control. He's also the backup reviewer for Daredevil, Agent Carter, Gotham, Fresh of the Boat and Galavant, so you may see a review by him for either of these shows. Feel free to add him on Twitter.

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