“He’s Expecting” adds to the many reasons Netflix is declining

With many other shows to watch on Netflix, “He’s Expecting” should not be added to your watchlist.

With Netflix on the decline over the past couple of months, people expect the streaming service to release great shows and widen their catalog to hopefully gain back subscribers. But the Netflix Original show “He’s Expecting” is not going to do that. Instead, it might even turn away more subscribers and add to Netflix’s losses.

“He’s Expecting” is about Kentaro Hiyama, a salaryman who has just hit it big in the company UNIVE, which is a fictional Japan’s leading clothing brand. Within the first episode, you learn the harsh reality that Kentaro will have to deal with for the remainder of the season: male pregnancy. This is not one of the first shows to deal with male pregnancy, but it sure is the first to take the topic so seriously. The 1994 film “Junior” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, follows the same topic as “He’s Expecting” but it contained one crucial thing to make it entertaining for people to watch, and that was comedy. “He’s Expecting” takes the same idea and does away with the comedy, attempting to make this a current, woke show. 

Beyond the idea of male pregnancy, the show is just not well-made. Many of the transitions are abrupt with no smoothness and the acting from some of these characters, mainly the side characters, is just not what you would expect from Netflix as they are very awkward at times. Aside from this, the show just does not do a good job catching your attention. It is as if they just dropped the idea of male pregnancy onto the main character right as he learns that there has been a rise of male pregnancy in Japan. There is little to no buildup to the event of Kentaro learning that he is pregnant. However, one thing that was done well in the first episode was the disbelief that Kentaro was in. He believed that the doctor who examined him was hysterical and stormed out of the hospital to take a pregnancy test kit, only to find out that he is indeed pregnant. Although this trope of finding out you are pregnant through a pregnancy test kit is a common trope among movies with similar premises, “He’s Expecting” does it in a way that makes you believe that the character was in genuine surprise. 

Overall, “He’s Expecting” is another letdown from Netflix. It has not caught the eyes of the people and has received exceedingly low scores all across the board. It makes you wonder what happened to Netflix after having a good run just a couple months ago with the release of very popular animated shows such as “Arcane” and “Komi-San Can’t Communicate.”

Star Rating: 1\5

[Streaming exclusively on Netflix]