If people were thinking about delving into Netflix’s latest teen melodrama “The Society,” good luck to them in making it through the series’ pilot. It is only mildly entertaining.
The show released on May 10 and leaves the weekend to deem it binge worthy. This series does that in the first episode.
The show follows a group of high school teenagers who notice a smell in their small suburban town of West Ham, New England. The teens are mysteriously transferred to a replica version of their town where they quickly realize their no parents, no internet, and no regard for our precious free time.
First, these high schoolers of which seem to be a private school leave for an exclusive, student-picked “glamping” trip. This five bus adventure seems to be unlikely, but most people quite have the luxury to attend these elitist type schools.
When the kids realize that they are essentially alone they attempt to call their parents where there is obviously nobody answering. Oddly enough the WiFi and internet do not work.
Whatever is making this eerie phenomenon happen figured out a millennial’s Kryptonite.
This show lacks diversity in its cast pandering to a specific audience who only cares about partying in a blatant time of crisis. This makes it pretty hard to care about its characters; chalk it up to white people problems.
This show raises so many questions and it’s hard to tell if that’s why people will be drawn to the show. Questions like, how do the cell phones work and not the internet, what happened to the adult bus drivers and why are they not freaking out more?
Also it’s understandable that kids in high school, most people for that matter, use the “F” word a lot, but this pilot episode is like the second coming of “The Wolf of Wall Street”—569 times.
“The Society” can be best described as a millennial version of William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” Once the chaos of the town is realized all hell breaks loose and the kids begin raiding the streets and taking supplies.
Even when the class president in the show Cassandra Pressman, played by Rachel Keller, tries to set up any type of organization she is challenged by her male counterpart, Alex Fitzalan.
And, of course, another male has a gun to assert himself.
With all of that said, this show does possess some redeeming qualities believe it or not. There’s no telling as to what is causing all of this in the first place, so although it is frustrating to watch it does leave wonder in what will come next.
There are some familiar faces in the cast to put on good performances. This is a saving grace for the episode. Furthermore, if you enjoy The CW-style cinematography and drama this show might work for you.
“The Society” definitely does have a target in mind for its viewership so it is possible that it will do just fine on Netflix’s content spewing platform. It can be enjoyable but don’t watch it too literally. And if there was a star rating for this show it would be a two-and-half out of five.