[Filling the Space is a flexible column where our writers could vent, deconstruct, and work their way around the emotions brought on by TV, films, books, music, and key moments in pop culture. This isn’t meant to be analytical, but instead, a way for us to explore our feelings.]
TV shows from the late ’90s seldom hold up nowadays, and I can’t exactly confirm whether Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s Two of a Kind does because I haven’t watched it in ages, but I do remember it being an absolute blast. More than anything, I remember all their movies, and despite how wild the plot was (like why are these kids going to Paris specifically during one school dance and how on earth does everything transpire there!?) But still, it’s always a blast.
Like Lizzie McGuire, everything that was of the times for teen dramas hit because it’s what we grew up with, and now we sound just like our parents, looking back at it all. “Back in my day…” “Yeah, yeah, grandma. We get it.” I miss it, friends. I do. But looking back, I remember the detail that the series also carefully played with the single dad and nanny trope, but because it was canceled too early, we never really got to see how that played out. She was also his student? Oh, man. This…maybe I should’ve watched it before writing this article, but I almost just want to pretend that it was as great as I remember and not at all problematic because too many things from our past have been ruined. TV shows, specifically. So, you’ll forgive me if I’m reluctant.
The outfits were cool, the two of them switching positions was even cooler, and there was that one episode with Mary Kate moving to the attic that’s either real, or I made it up fully in my head. There’s also the one where they go completely Rear Window on their poor neighbor just because the woman is obsessed with Murder, She Wrote. Like, girly pops, that’s not how it is. I don’t think these girls would survive knowing how many people are now obsessed with true crime podcasts.
What’s also hilarious is that Chicago P.D.’s Jesse Lee Soffer guest-starred as a tutor that Ashley had a crush on, and this episode is embedded in my brain because the poor thing was so devastated when she found out he had a girlfriend. I also remember that Christopher Sieber was a class act as their father, Kevin Burke, and yeah, I’m pretty sure I shipped him with Carrie, pals. I can’t deny it. School dances, an abundant amount of time spent in kitchens… And even the layout of their house was comforting, in the same way that The Golden Girls’ kitchen is my fictional safe space. Again, was it good? Genuinely can’t for the life of me remember. But I had such a great time with it, and I’m choosing to believe it was an absolute blast until I do, in fact, decide to rewatch it again.
When was the last time you watched Two of a Kind? Does it hold up? Do you love it still? Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Dualstar Entertainment Group