The Climb was written by Kilpatrick drawing on her experiences growing up in Detroit. In an age where the “curation of self” has surpassed baseball as the national pastime, two best friends stuck in the same dead-end job search for fulfillment by becoming Internet famous, though moxie is their only discernible talent.
The Nia-Misty friendship is more than a little Broad City-ish, and the riffs on subjects like "black Malibu Barbie" sound familiar, but Kilpatrick is a very likable screen presence.
That line - and Kilpatrick's performance - captures the sincerity of Nia's ambitions and the show's askew riff on the modern American Dream. It's hard to know if this balance could continue in a series, but this pilot is a marvel.
I don't think The Climb is a great pilot, but I think star and creator Diarra Kilpatrick has a voice and a mindset that are worth supporting and I'd be more than willing to go on at least a brief journey with her as she tries to shape it into a TV series.
Even if the Nia/Misty patter doesn't seem fully sharpened yet, this is an on-screen duo that could do big things precisely because of how comfortable they are with their changing pursuits.
