Brilliant first season. Will be honest, it took a while for me to get adjusted to the series, a lot of nudity which is normal for HBO however this got closer to reality considering its adolescents discussing adult content. A critic I follow called this Paul Thomas Anderson's version of My So-Called Life, that's pretty much what this is and it's amazing. The focus of one character per episode is interesting and I don't think it'll be a necessary tool considering that "Shook Ones, Pt. II" is a brilliant episode of TV (would've been on my list for 2019 if I had caught it in time). And I think this was mostly due to creator Sam Levinson still trying to figure out what made this show tick, and his visuals do most of the work in the elements of the series I didn't care for (some of it's disturbing while others are truly mind bending and deserve to be looked at by film scholars). Zendaya definitely deserved her Emmy, this series wouldn't be as emotional without Rue's narration. The supporting cast is phenomenal as well, Hunter Schafer and Eric Dane stood out to me but everyone in this deserves awards recognition (perhaps the SAG awards should nominate this when S2 comes out).
Anyways, this also makes HBO the best place for content (and I say HBO not HBO Max, won't get too much into the difference) along with Succession show some of the best storytelling is on TV not on film.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2021-01-11T06:18:54Z
Brilliant first season. Will be honest, it took a while for me to get adjusted to the series, a lot of nudity which is normal for HBO however this got closer to reality considering its adolescents discussing adult content. A critic I follow called this Paul Thomas Anderson's version of My So-Called Life, that's pretty much what this is and it's amazing. The focus of one character per episode is interesting and I don't think it'll be a necessary tool considering that "Shook Ones, Pt. II" is a brilliant episode of TV (would've been on my list for 2019 if I had caught it in time). And I think this was mostly due to creator Sam Levinson still trying to figure out what made this show tick, and his visuals do most of the work in the elements of the series I didn't care for (some of it's disturbing while others are truly mind bending and deserve to be looked at by film scholars). Zendaya definitely deserved her Emmy, this series wouldn't be as emotional without Rue's narration. The supporting cast is phenomenal as well, Hunter Schafer and Eric Dane stood out to me but everyone in this deserves awards recognition (perhaps the SAG awards should nominate this when S2 comes out).
Anyways, this also makes HBO the best place for content (and I say HBO not HBO Max, won't get too much into the difference) along with Succession show some of the best storytelling is on TV not on film.