The Climb - Season 1

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.

This Detroit-set vanity vehicle is too derivative of funnier single-urban-female comedies like Insecure to have the intended impact.

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.

The show is both more light-hearted than Insecure and more dramatic than Broad City.

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.

The show is gorgeous to look at, bordering on high fashion at times, and it would undoubtedly land upon a better sense of itself if given a series.

[Diarra] Kilpatrick has a voice they may be wise to nurture, especially if The Climb evolves into a show as rich and observant as Insecure is.

"The Climb" is like a more profane but also more buttoned-up, and no less cerebral, companion to Issa Rae's HBO comedy "Insecure."

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.