Photo credit: God Friended Me
God Friended Me centers on Miles, a self-proclaimed atheist who runs “The Millennial Prophet,” a podcast where he dissects religion, faith and the universe at large. One day, he receives a friend request from a user named God and after accepting is set on a journey that not only changes the lives of his friend suggestions, but his as well.
Eventually, one of those suggestions is a girl named Cara, who he ultimately helps reconnect with her mom, and forms a connection with as well. The two have a will/they won’t thing going on, but (spoilers ahead!) as of last week’s episode, are finally willing to give it a shot.
Then there’s Rakesh, Miles’ trusty sidekick who works as a type of computer programmer and is essentially a master hacker — a skill that comes in handy when they’re trying to find people’s locations, records, and other fun violations of privacy like that.
There’s also Miles’ father Eli (played by the imitable Joe Morton) who, in a smart move by the writers, is a priest. This naturally causes a bit of friction between father and son, but both eventually come to respect each other’s causes. After all, they’re both helping people in their own ways.
So, with those characters in mind, we get to the actual premise. Every episode, Miles gets a friend suggestion (sometimes a few!) that this aforementioned trio sets to find and help solve whatever life crisis they’re dealing with. This is where YOUR faith as a viewer is required, because the situations are always improbable. A random woman looking for her soulmate. Tenants about to lose their building. A fiancé trying to piece her memories together after coming out of a coma. Nobody in real life would let random people, with no authority, butt into their personal life about these things. It just wouldn’t happen. Especially in NYC.
But then you watch a few more episodes and you realize that this show isn’t meant to be believable, it’s meant to make you feel good. You’re supposed to think these things couldn’t happen, because it makes you wonder why they don’t.
You’ll find yourself questioning why there aren’t more random acts of kindness? Why don’t we let strangers in? How amazing would it be if one chance encounter could make all the difference? Or if that one chance encounter really could make all the difference?
Just like a friend request, each episode of God Friended Me forces you to accept that life often has more questions than it does answers, but it also shows that if you’re bold enough to try to find them, your life could be changed for the better.