‘Unique to this time’

Kate Feldman talks to Social Distance creator Hilary Weisman Graham about ‘‘capturing human stories’’ from ‘‘this crazy period of time’’.

NETFLIX'S new anthology series

Social Distance unfolds chronologically, but aims to be a ‘‘time capsule’’ for the rollercoaster reality of quarantine and unrest, its creator says.

‘‘It's not about the pandemic per se,'' Hilary Weisman Graham said of the coronavirusera show.

‘‘It's about people experiencing life during social distancing . . . just capturing human stories.

‘‘It's a time capsule for when this crazy period of time is someday over, something right now [in which] people could see a piece of themselves,’’ the Orange is the New

Black writer and producer said.

‘‘We all are experiencing so many emotions and so much intensity, the rollercoaster that's happening on a daily basis.’’

Social Distance begins as the coronavirus shutdowns take effect in the United States, with a barber (Mike Colter) attending virtual Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. It progresses as the calendar flips: to a Zoom funeral; a home nurse (Danielle Brooks) who keeps an eye on her 6yearold daughter through a video security system; to a group of teens livestreaming and FaceTiming, their lives barely upended by being stuck at home.

The eightepisode show ends with Asante Blackk (18) and his reallife father fighting about how to protest.

Each episode is supposed to represent a different stage of quarantine.

Social Distance isn't the first such coronavirusthemed show. Freeform's Love in the Time of

Corona, HBO's Coastal Elites and

NBC's Connecting all preceded it. Each has called itself a time capsule, but each looks a little different and tells a different story.

Blackk's episode, the season finale, is perhaps the angriest, written after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25.

Playing a teenager trying to skip out of work to join his girlfriend at an antipolice brutality protest, Blackk's character, Corey, finds himself at odds with his boss (played by the young actor's reallife father, Ayize Ma'at) about how to fight systematic racism.

For Corey, it's rallies and signs and hashtags. For his boss, it's about succeeding as a selfmade black man.

It was two sides of the same coin, Blackk said.

‘‘You can't get out of the matrix if you don't realise you're in the matrix.

‘‘You can't step outside of this horror movie you're living inside of unless you realise it. This is one of the biggest social movements that has ever taken place in this country. We have a responsibility to make sure this never happens again.’’

Social Distance also explores adjusting to the new reality, like in ‘‘A Celebration of the Human Life Cycle’’, an episode about a Zoom funeral.

‘‘Zero Feet Away’’ immerses itself in the story of a couple trying to avoid their marital issues with a threesome. ‘‘Humane Animal

Trap’’ finds a man (Dylan Baker) trying to enjoy retirement until his wife (reallife wife Becky Ann Baker) is drafted back to work as a nurse on the medical frontline of the pandemic.

‘‘We wanted to find stories about the specific of the universality. They're stories that are so unique to this time,’’ Weisman Graham said.

‘‘I really just hope that people watch this show and see their lives and experiences reflected and have some catharsis in these crazy times. At the end of the day, these stories are important to humanity. They help us process our own emotions and our own reality.’’ — TNS

µ Social Distance is available to stream on Netflix.