What this episode does is something groundbreaking and completely new to British television, which is only just starting to deal with and showcase the crisis in mental health across all ages, yet particularly among young people. An introspective dive into the mind and mental traumas of Jonny, a 16-year-old lad trying to keep everything together for the sake of his family and friends, combined with the excellently-scripted accompanied narration of the series by him, showcasing what he goes through, utilising logic and reason to sort out and attempt to understand and control his emotions and feelings. The main arc is that no-one can find out how low he's been for the previous few months, and that he spent his summer in bed feeling unable to step outside; his dad passing away - the only one who was aware of what he was going through - steps up the pressure on him to act as normal as possible (when normal has, unfortunately, been comprehensively defenestrated) and keep up the façade and artifice of always being 'OK' and 'fine'. This exacerbates matters with explosive consequences as his inability to control himself gains supremacy over his carefully-crafted deployment of inhibitions, as he begins to mix with a tantalisingly mysterious new girl named Mei that inveigles her way, with subtle hints of manipulative tendencies, into his circle of peers, through a shared bond with Jonny of both of them 'being a mess' that, below the surface, is somewhat disingenuous - but we don't learn in this first 45 minutes how much.
As reviewed elsewhere, Davies is a superb performer - remarkable considering this is his first acting role - with excellent characterisation of the pained Jonny that only expands how engrossing a watch this episode is - in some parts outperforming the more seasoned adult members of the cast, although they are left with smaller roles than they will probably receive in further episodes - and proves O'Sullivan's talent as a writer to be able to pivot from a sitcom to something as relatively deeply layered as this. An almost-literal cliffhanger scene is brilliantly harrowing, even if slightly undermined by some obvious CGI. Beautifully shot and written, with specific praise going to the scenes in which Jonny finds himself alone, sometimes with Mei to highlight how she is the only one anywhere who understands and relates to him - as if she is a form of guardian angel - and the genuine, unalloyed shock value of the revelation coming right at the end of the episode. It would be also neglectful to mention the performances of the other members of the main, young, ensemble, in particular Fearn, Ajufo and Liang, who portray their characters convincingly, if they're a little under-fleshed-out at this point (but would be insulting to deem them more akin to convenient/token sidekicks). Also worth commending is the ability for O'Sullivan to create such a detestable character in Jonny's brother Andrew, who doesn't say and do much but doesn't have to in order to make you instantly dislike him.
The show does engage in tropes that would be expected of a teen/YA drama - and there are moments that are a bit cringy if you're even a couple of years beyond the target audience like me - but sprinkles them through sparsely enough that it doesn't come across like a carbon copy of any similar drama that's come before. A captivating first episode that hooks you into the series, that deserves more plaudits than some random guy like me leaving a review. If this is a sign of what type of scripted content ITV2 (which will eventually air the series probably in summer; at the moment it's an ITVX-exclusive) will play host to, or what type of television will be produced for younger audiences, going forward, it's a very promising start.
As reviewed elsewhere, Davies is a superb performer - remarkable considering this is his first acting role - with excellent characterisation of the pained Jonny that only expands how engrossing a watch this episode is - in some parts outperforming the more seasoned adult members of the cast, although they are left with smaller roles than they will probably receive in further episodes - and proves O'Sullivan's talent as a writer to be able to pivot from a sitcom to something as relatively deeply layered as this. An almost-literal cliffhanger scene is brilliantly harrowing, even if slightly undermined by some obvious CGI. Beautifully shot and written, with specific praise going to the scenes in which Jonny finds himself alone, sometimes with Mei to highlight how she is the only one anywhere who understands and relates to him - as if she is a form of guardian angel - and the genuine, unalloyed shock value of the revelation coming right at the end of the episode. It would be also neglectful to mention the performances of the other members of the main, young, ensemble, in particular Fearn, Ajufo and Liang, who portray their characters convincingly, if they're a little under-fleshed-out at this point (but would be insulting to deem them more akin to convenient/token sidekicks). Also worth commending is the ability for O'Sullivan to create such a detestable character in Jonny's brother Andrew, who doesn't say and do much but doesn't have to in order to make you instantly dislike him.
The show does engage in tropes that would be expected of a teen/YA drama - and there are moments that are a bit cringy if you're even a couple of years beyond the target audience like me - but sprinkles them through sparsely enough that it doesn't come across like a carbon copy of any similar drama that's come before. A captivating first episode that hooks you into the series, that deserves more plaudits than some random guy like me leaving a review. If this is a sign of what type of scripted content ITV2 (which will eventually air the series probably in summer; at the moment it's an ITVX-exclusive) will play host to, or what type of television will be produced for younger audiences, going forward, it's a very promising start.