What happened?
Season 1 was this beautiful, whimsical tale of two young men falling in love and were supported in everyone possible way. Fantasy - yes, but it won our hearts and gave LGBT youth hope in a current climate that is anything but hopeful. Then Season Two came out...
Instead of continuing on this road of blissful happiness, the show opens with a recap of the last year, insultingly unnecessary, and a 180 turn away from the love and support that made the inaugural season a story for the ages. Gone was the magic, reshaped by unsupportive parents, absent siblings, and a level of homophobia from a family member, who incidentally came so far out of the blue that I actually paused the show to look them up, sure that I missed something in Season One.
The magic between Charlie and Nick feels more forced, less natural. Perhaps fame and an insane amount of press tours has taken their toll (my unsought advice would be for the young actors to take charge of their lives, and listen less to studios). Both are portrayed as intelligent, successful students, including a scene where Nick does his maths assignment whilst walking to class in Season One. Now he is failing his GCSE. Charlie, the student who sets the bell curve, is now struggling in every class. Why - because they are so "in love" that they are neglecting their studies. We see a harsh, painful, and homophobic society where darkness interweaves with their individual thoughts during the first three episodes. If I wanted that reality, I could get that by simply walking out my front door.
Season two opens with other unnecessary drama as well. Tao and Ellie have moved apart which is extremely unbelievable as we wrapped Season One with hand holding and an almost kiss. Imogen is now with Ben, who seems not only bi but must have dumped the other girl he was dating. Although in fairness you do find yourself feeling sorry for Imogen as she keeps trying to find herself within a small peer group, dating people she has known since childhood. As for Isaac, its a soft storyline with an onion that never peels away enough. Tobie is good actor, the writers missed an opportunity to use him more.
Lastly, during the opening of Season Two, we meet actor Nima Taleghani who plays Mr. Farouk. As first, I thought he was supposed to be a parody of Dwight Schultz from the US version of The Office. Then I realized that the writers ripped off a character from the show that drops the intelligence factor to sub-zero. Not knocking on the actor, just a terrible part that can't be taken seriously but isn't funny either. It was a huge swing and a miss.
I was beyond excited for Season Two as the first season was one of my all-time favorite shows. As for Season Three, I could care less as I am no longer vested in the characters. How the showrunners could create something so magical and perfect, then flush it is a spectacular example of too many studios execs trying to drive teh story. I am sure that years from now, this will be one of the shows with a trivia question? Name an LGBT series that went from riches to rags after its' first season.
Season 1 was this beautiful, whimsical tale of two young men falling in love and were supported in everyone possible way. Fantasy - yes, but it won our hearts and gave LGBT youth hope in a current climate that is anything but hopeful. Then Season Two came out...
Instead of continuing on this road of blissful happiness, the show opens with a recap of the last year, insultingly unnecessary, and a 180 turn away from the love and support that made the inaugural season a story for the ages. Gone was the magic, reshaped by unsupportive parents, absent siblings, and a level of homophobia from a family member, who incidentally came so far out of the blue that I actually paused the show to look them up, sure that I missed something in Season One.
The magic between Charlie and Nick feels more forced, less natural. Perhaps fame and an insane amount of press tours has taken their toll (my unsought advice would be for the young actors to take charge of their lives, and listen less to studios). Both are portrayed as intelligent, successful students, including a scene where Nick does his maths assignment whilst walking to class in Season One. Now he is failing his GCSE. Charlie, the student who sets the bell curve, is now struggling in every class. Why - because they are so "in love" that they are neglecting their studies. We see a harsh, painful, and homophobic society where darkness interweaves with their individual thoughts during the first three episodes. If I wanted that reality, I could get that by simply walking out my front door.
Season two opens with other unnecessary drama as well. Tao and Ellie have moved apart which is extremely unbelievable as we wrapped Season One with hand holding and an almost kiss. Imogen is now with Ben, who seems not only bi but must have dumped the other girl he was dating. Although in fairness you do find yourself feeling sorry for Imogen as she keeps trying to find herself within a small peer group, dating people she has known since childhood. As for Isaac, its a soft storyline with an onion that never peels away enough. Tobie is good actor, the writers missed an opportunity to use him more.
Lastly, during the opening of Season Two, we meet actor Nima Taleghani who plays Mr. Farouk. As first, I thought he was supposed to be a parody of Dwight Schultz from the US version of The Office. Then I realized that the writers ripped off a character from the show that drops the intelligence factor to sub-zero. Not knocking on the actor, just a terrible part that can't be taken seriously but isn't funny either. It was a huge swing and a miss.
I was beyond excited for Season Two as the first season was one of my all-time favorite shows. As for Season Three, I could care less as I am no longer vested in the characters. How the showrunners could create something so magical and perfect, then flush it is a spectacular example of too many studios execs trying to drive teh story. I am sure that years from now, this will be one of the shows with a trivia question? Name an LGBT series that went from riches to rags after its' first season.