S01.E01: First Kiss

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

Under pressure from her parents to swap her blood pills for the real thing, Juliette sets her sights on new girl Cal, who has her own family stress.

[Cranberry]

All eight episodes drop on Netflix Friday, June 10.

[AnimeMania]

Well that was interesting. The music was distracting, but in a good way, it kept your mind engaged, even when the scenes were not all that compelling. I liked the half-time reset to shift the character perspective. It really shifted the power dynamic knowing that Cal didn't come into situation unaware. It seems like an odd place to leave episode 1, but it really makes you want to watch episode 2, but alas it is late, and it will have to wait. It is strange that they haven't really fleshed out any of the other school students except for Ben. They should also give us a little more information about recognizing the different types of monsters and how to dispatch them. At least they didn't make the mistake of making the night action scene too dark to make out what is going on. 

Why did papa Burns throw that dead body in the back of his truck? How will he be able to explain that if he is pulled over by the cops?

[QQQQ]

I liked the first episode, enough to stop making comparisons to Buffy/Angel so that was good 😅

[Paloma]

8 hours ago, QQQQ said:

I liked the first episode, enough to stop making comparisons to Buffy/Angel so that was good 

I watched the first episode in large part because of the comparisons to BtVS, but I didn't expect to be impressed...especially because it was described in one place as a Gen Z vampire series, and I am about as far from Gen Z as you can get. But I do like vampire and other supernatural stories, and I like teen stories if they are at least somewhat realistic and I can relate to them emotionally (as an example of such teen stories, Never Have I Ever is one of my favorite shows). I immediately liked Juliette and her struggle to fit in, because I still remember my own difficult teenage years--good, smart girl ignored by all the stereotypical groups (unfortunately, I did not have a friend like Ben who was popular). And even though it's a bit obvious, I like how Juliette's ambivalence about becoming a vampire can be seen as a metaphor for the way many feel as they go through puberty.

I didn't relate as much to Cal, partly because she seemed somewhat unfriendly and even cold toward Juliette. But of course that made sense once I realized that she knew what Juliette was and that Cal would have to kill her. So I'm intrigued to see what will happen next after the closet make-out and mutual kill session. Presumably they both have to survive this or there is no series.

I'm also hoping to see more of the family dynamics and history. Among other things, I'm wondering if Juliette's older sister is really her sister or just part of their vampire "clan" or whatever the word is for an unrelated group of vampires. I'd also like to know more about how they blended in with Savannah society--maybe it's enough that they are obviously rich and in an amazing mansion.

At this point my only complaint is the constant music and the explicit nature of one of the songs. I know that the Gen Z audience and probably others won't be bothered by it, but I think the plot and dialogue could be better appreciated with occasional quiet, or at least music that is not so in your face. But that's just an old person talking.

[Cranberry]

That followed the short story very closely! I liked the short story, and I liked this. I'm interested to see where they go from here.

I like that Juliette is socially awkward and feels like an outsider, but she's actually in the popular crowd, or at least "popular by association" as she says. It's different from what we normally see. It's also refreshing that being queer isn't a big deal in this world (for the girls or for Ben); it's not going to be the source of the conflict here. 

Right now it's clear that Juliette is the thirstiest of vampires (in more ways than one) -- she's truly a gay disaster. That montage of all the times she tried and failed to talk to Calliope made me laugh. Not seeing the attraction from Cal yet, but that makes sense considering that right now she sees this girl solely as a target, a monster who's faking her humanity. I like that Juliette is trying to deny her nature while Cal is all in trying to embrace her family's calling. Should make for an interesting dynamic.

[Scarlett45]

On 6/8/2022 at 3:01 PM, Cranberry said:

All eight episodes drop on Netflix Friday, June 10.

I just saw this suggested on Netflix and thought “HUH????!!!”

I may check it out next weekend. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

So far, so good. But I do not get why Calliope would go into the closet with Juliette, the vamp she was going to kill. Like what would be her cover story when she killed her? 

[DigitalCount]

Just watched this first episode, and, well, I wasn't sure if I would like it when they practically lifted a line from TVD (but it was more meaningful on TVD). Having finished the episode though, I'm left wondering if that was intentional. I did pick up on how chilly Calliope was being, and I made a joke that actually she was a Van Helsing, she had intentionally dropped the silver bracelet as a test, and she would try to kill Juliette. And...then that all happened. The setup seemed to be that it would be a generic vampire love story where the participants were being torn apart by the world, but then they end the episode trying to kill each other in earnest.

Being of an ethnicity in line with Calliope, I couldn't help but laugh when she said her brothers' names were Theseus and Apollo, and then Juliette laughed while assuming she was joking.

I found it entertaining and definitely up my alley, so I'll be watching the season at least.