Apple TV+ ‘Platonic’ Season 2 Episode 9 Review - Messy Avoidance

I’ve been watching Platonic closely this season, and “Boundaries” lands as a mixed but mostly satisfying installment. It leans into what the show does best, messy friendship, emotional avoidance, awkward truths, but it also shows cracks under its own weight. I’ll try to unpack both sides.

First: what works. The episode gives us emotional tension without turning up the volume to melodrama, which is hard to pull off, but Platonic usually manages. Sylvia’s avoidance of Charlie confronts the core of the show’s strength: how people we care about hurt us, not by grand betrayals, but by small lies and cowardice. Sylvia bribing her own kid to summarize Charlie's manuscript because she found it boring feels petty and real, which makes the fallout more resonant. When Charlie knows, when she sees Sylvia’s rationalization, there’s no huge gesture, just disappointment and confusion. The show trusts us to feel that.

Will’s reaction is also well-played. He’s caught between wanting to smooth things over (as support) and being frustrated (by Sylvia’s underhanded move). His relationship with Katie offers a quiet offset: there’s normalcy there, moments of friction, but much more openness, so when Sylvia crashes their river trip, we see contrast. The canoe/boating scenes (along the LA River) are visually simple but thematically sharp; the outdoors gives space for the characters to move, to breathe, to shift, and for Sylvia to feel the weight of her own avoidance.

Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen bring their usual chemistry; the push-and-pull of Sylvia and Will’s dynamic, their humor flavored with guilt, miscommunication, and affection, is alive here. The supporting cast continues to be useful: Katie gives Sylvia someone to be honest with (if indirectly), and Charlie’s quiet hurt grounds what could become just sitcom-level awkwardness. The pacing is good, scenes bounce between light (Will, Katie banter, boating) and heavier (Sylvia’s guilt, Charlie’s realization) without feeling disjointed.

Now: where it falls short. Sometimes the avoidance gets so thick it feels like the show is stretching for conflict rather than letting conflict arise organically. Sylvia’s decision to tag along on Will and Katie’s plan feels slightly contrived. Yes, it’s believable she’d dodge a hard talk, but the script leans heavily on that one device in a way that edges toward cliché of “the friend who can’t own up.” It risks making Sylvia less sympathetic, because we’ve seen her more capable in earlier episodes; here, she teeters on frustrating.

Also, the episode doesn’t give enough of Charlie’s inner world. We get the emotional, but not quite the motivation. Why is Charlie so slow to forgive? What does this manuscript represent to her beyond pride? The hurt is clear, but the deeper emotional stakes could be sharpened. Part of what makes Platonic strong is when it lets us linger in uncomfortable silences; this episode gives us those, but sometimes skips them in favor of moving to the next joke or the next setting.

Another quibble is that some of the subplots around Will’s bar-dream and outside investment remain in shadow this episode. They hover, promising tension, but “Boundaries” is so focused on Sylvia-Charlie-Will interrelations that those external stakes don’t land as strongly. For a show that often balances external ambitions and internal emotional stuff well, this tilt toward the internal is mostly fine, but for viewers invested in Will’s business arc, it might feel like progress has stalled.

Despite these flaws, “Boundaries” wins more often than it missteps. The river trip is a metaphor (without being a metaphor, really) of trying to steer while drift happens, of being in motion even when you wish you were still; that’s the right kind of emotional texture for Platonic. And I love that it doesn’t resolve things neatly. Sylvia doesn’t get a perfect apology; Charlie doesn’t immediately reach forgiveness. Tension remains. That feels honest.

On a technical level, direction is clean, the editing keeps the beats tight, and the dialogue avoids falling into trite sentiment. There are laughs, some of them sharp, some of them cringey (in a good way), and there are moments that hurt a little, which is how this show achieves its charm.

In sum, “Boundaries” is a strong penultimate build toward the finale. It reminds us how much Platonic is about what we don’t say as much as what we do. It stumbles a bit when the avoidance feels overworked, or when subplots take a back seat, but it delivers the emotional core, the awkwardness, and the warmth that make this series special. If you’re a fan of Sylvia, Will, Charlie (and that messy triumvirate), this episode gives you reasons to care again, even while you cringe.

Final Score- [7/10]