S01.E07: Deepest, Darkest Secret

[paulvdb]

Quote

Armed with new insight about her dad, Syd vows to stay positive as she goes to the homecoming dance.

 

[bettername2come]

I don't know what I expected to happen at homecoming, but that was not it.

[QQQQ]

I liked it - a modern-day mash-up of Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Heathers, Carrie, Scanners, Some Kind of Wonderful, and the Breakfast Club (loved that the school janitor was named Carl!).

 

I do hate scenes where an obnoxious high school student takes over the microphone and no adult steps in to regain order. As if.

Edited March 5, 2020 by QQQQ
Forgot to include Scanners!

[Gulftastic]

Based on the flash forwards, I was expecting Syd to be 'Carrie'd' at the dance. What happened was sooo much better!

[Chaos Theory]

Watched all seven episodes in what amounted to 2 sittings.  This was a fun series.  I can see it become a pretty fun anti-hero arc if it wants to.  We have Stranger Things with a bunch of kids becoming heros but the other direction is Syd becoming a villian because she just can't control her anger and the forces of darkness focus it in a dark direction.   

I did like many of the story's like Syd and her mom.  The first few episodes I really wanted to hate mom.   But you start to see later on that she is facing her own pain and is just trying the best she can and like a lot of people maybe hadling things all wrong.  

 

[QQQQ]

I liked the actress who played the mom when she was on Episodes (Carol).

[Zima]

This was a short, fun watch.  My one complaint is that it should have just been set in the 80's with all of the homages to that decade. It kept taking me out of the show, when literally EVERYTHING about the set, clothing, music, etc. seemed like it belonged in that era.

 

[Mabinogia]

Just watched the whole thing in one sitting. Even better than I expected. I went in not knowing anything about it other than that I like Sophia Lillis so I figured I'd give it a go. Really pleased with it and I about jumped out of my seat when we finally found out why she was covered in blood. I, too, thought it was going to be a Carrie moment so well played show, well played indeed. 

I can't wait to see what happens next. 

[retrograde]

On 2/29/2020 at 12:43 PM, QQQQ said:

I do hate scenes where an obnoxious high school student takes over the microphone and no adult steps in to regain order. As if.

This was definitely my biggest gripe with the season. I realize it had a retro vibe but it was supposed to be modern-day, right? There's no way teachers would just let that kid out a fellow student without intervening. At least contrive a reason they couldn't stop him, show! 

My other biggest issue with the show is that it didn't really sell me that Sydney had this amazing friendship with Dina or why she liked her so much. They jumped into her being a jerk too quickly and never really fleshed the character out. In fact, thanks to the voiceover, this show did a little too much telling where there should've been showing in general, I felt.

Nevertheless, I liked it a lot and binged it in one sitting and will be back for season 2. 

[Mabinogia]

18 hours ago, retrograde said:

My other biggest issue with the show is that it didn't really sell me that Sydney had this amazing friendship with Dina or why she liked her so much.

About two minutes in I figured out Syd had a major crush on Dina. Not sure why Dina was friends with Sydney but I knew immediately that Syd was attracted to Dina. The show did kind of explain it, with them both starting at the same time. That's how I ended up with one of my BFFs, we started work at the same time so we kind of bonded over that and just stayed together even after expanding our circle of friends. I don't think it was as strong a friendship on Dina's side since as soon as she got a boy friend she kind of pushed Syd aside. I just think Syd's romantic interest in Dina made her see it as a stronger friendship than it probably was. 

[Rosieroo]

On 2/29/2020 at 10:18 AM, bettername2come said:

I don't know what I expected to happen at homecoming, but that was not it.

This.  I knew something was going to happen to generic jerk but I was not expecting that.  I actually threw my hands up to ward off the goo.  Me and Mrs. Roo watched this all in one sitting and enjoyed it for the most part.  Most especially Stanley who was just adorable.  

[Valny]

On 2/29/2020 at 11:18 AM, bettername2come said:

I don't know what I expected to happen at homecoming, but that was not it.

Seriously, a head explosion was not even on my radar, but it was spectacular!  I yelled out, Holy shit!  Plus the guy was a douche so it made it sweeter! Great song that followed by Echo and the Bunnymen too!
Oh and the tiny hedgehog was pretty cute.
I quite enjoyed this series, short and sweet. I really hope they get a second season.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Valny

[lasu]

I laughed out loud and made my partner rewind so I could watch it again.  Yes, I'm a horrible person.  I'm ok with that.  The only bummer part of it was that I was convinced the jerky boyfriend was actually a Bad Guy.  

It was a cute and fun show, and I definitely hope we get a second season!

[Danny Franks]

This was fun. Not particularly weighty, despite the content, but fun. I do think they'd have been better with longer episodes and/or a longer season, to establish the relationships more. 

A lot of the relationship dynamics seemed very rushed - Syd/Stan, Syd/Dina, Dina/Brad - and I'd have liked more time devoted to them, particularly Syd/Dina if they're the central relationship of the show. The scene between Syd and Stan at the dance was very sweet.

If Dina is dressing up like that for Syd then I think the girl's got a shot. I appreciated Syd's nice, girly dress coupled with Doc Marten boots.

This show had a great soundtrack. Lots of fantastic 80s songs, capped off with Roxette.

That end really was mindblowing, wasn't it? Damn.

[EarlGreyTea]

On 3/1/2020 at 5:54 PM, Zima said:

This was a short, fun watch.  My one complaint is that it should have just been set in the 80's with all of the homages to that decade. It kept taking me out of the show, when literally EVERYTHING about the set, clothing, music, etc. seemed like it belonged in that era.

 

I agree. There seemed to be no clear reason why they just couldn't have set in the 80s. For instance, they didn't use cell phones to advance the plot in any way, which would have been a good reason to set in modern day. Ditto the internet. Maybe they didn't want to spend the extra dough to ensure historical accuracy.

I really loved this show. I'd have had a crush on Dina, too. That dress was stunning. I knew the douche bf was not long for this world, and saw it coming a mile away, but not like THAT. I legit gasped. I had thought there was going to be some kind of twist that he was the one following her all along.

[possibilities]

Each episode is so short, what is it, 15 or 20 mins each? So I binged this all in one day.

Did they get renewed? Netflix isn't telling me they did. They left it on a cliffhanger, but that doesn't prove anything. I would like to see more, though.

I was disappointed that her main confidante was Stan, not Dina. So much for BFFs. I get that she doesn't trust Dina because she thinks Dina is too cool for her, and she wouldn't have told Stan if he hadn't seen her knock over the forest by accident, but it does seriously dilute the Dina-Syd relationship that we hardly saw it and then Dina's left out of the secret.

I thought the show was waaaaay too coy about the lesbian aspect of things. It seemed to me that Dina was attracted to Syd but more used to being normal and maybe in more denial about it, or at least more in control of her emotions and more cautious about expressing anything controversial. But I thought from the start that they were showing that, with the montage of them frolicking and laughing together, and then both times they danced together. She was excited about dating Brad, but she didn't want to be with Brad when he showed up at the party, she left out of obligation, and then fought with him "and I don't even know what it was about". But Syd was all in for Dina and also more chaotic in general, so that gave them the excuse to add a little angst to the topic, a topic already over-saturated with angsty portrayals. The girl's father died. Stuff is blowing up all around her. Isn't that enough angst? I wouldn't have minded if they just skipped Stan and had Dina and Syd be on the same page and focus on their relationship and the superpower thing. God forbid a show give us no males in a central role! I liked Stan, but I think he was unnecessary, and just a way to dilute the Dina-Syd relationship.