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The A-List - General Discussion


meatball77
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I binged this on the weekend.  My first thought is that it is very wrongly named.  I tuned in thinking it was going to be a typical teen drama a la Gossip Girl, because I am a sucker for those types of shows.  It is not.  I told my husband it was very Lost meets Dr. Who meets Lord of the Flies.  Not my usual taste at all but I was too suckered in to quit it.  I enjoyed it well enough.  I love British television so that added to my liking it and sticking with it.  I can ignore a lot of the cheesiness if it's British cheese.   Lisa Ambalavanar, who plays Mia looks a lot older than the other cast members and it took me out of the show a few times.  But overall, I enjoyed it for what it was. 

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8 hours ago, Cementhead said:

I binged this on the weekend.  My first thought is that it is very wrongly named.  I tuned in thinking it was going to be a typical teen drama a la Gossip Girl, because I am a sucker for those types of shows.  It is not.  I told my husband it was very Lost meets Dr. Who meets Lord of the Flies.  Not my usual taste at all but I was too suckered in to quit it.  I enjoyed it well enough.  I love British television so that added to my liking it and sticking with it.  I can ignore a lot of the cheesiness if it's British cheese.   Lisa Ambalavanar, who plays Mia looks a lot older than the other cast members and it took me out of the show a few times.  But overall, I enjoyed it for what it was. 

I grew up over there, and it reminded me of something I would have watched at that age. 🙂 

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I loved it.  I wouldn't have if the episodes were longer and it was about three episodes too long but it kept me interested and wondering.

What happened at the end?  How can they both exist?  Why did their parents send them back to the island?  How did she keep those dresses white?

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I am in love with this show! I binged it over 2 weekends and I can't get over how much I enjoyed it. First of all, thank you BBC for making a teen show about teenagers not jaded, twenty-something year-olds where every conversation is a competition to see who can spit out the fastest witty one-liner and every other scene is someone having sex and getting wasted.

Secondly, the plot itself is brilliant. You can easily tell that this was something that was written pre-planned, not made up as they went along*, because it rewards repeated viewing. The opening "prologue" of the peregrine hunt now has a double meaning - the first time you watch it, it looks like a sinister "lord of the flies"-esque event with the players hunting an innocent victim. Then as the show progresses, we think that Amber murdered Midge during the peregrine hunt. Then finally, we realise that Midge died after the hunt, but most importantly - she was forgotten during the hunt. Re-watching, that scene becomes significant not because the other kids are monsters hunting her but they're kids having a good time and not seeing her. She's not the centre of attention, she's the invisible one. Heck, even the flashback to the Picture emphasise that - Midge is the girl standing at the frame of the picture, looking like if she doesn't belong. 

I enjoyed all the reveals, all the twists. Some I figured out --- for a long time, I was certain that Amber was the Narrator and some I didn't or I second-guessed myself e.g. I thought Amber was Midge until we actually got a picture of Midge and she wasn't the same person. Mads's involvement completely blind-sided me. I wish Mia had yelled at her specifically about letting Mia get punished and ostracised when she, of all people, should have realised that Amber was behind Mia's strange behaviour. 

The dynamic between Mia and Alex through the series was the best relationship development in the show. Dev was too Todd-Wilkins-esque (SVH fans will know what I mean) - the designated, Hot but Nice guy. I liked him well enough and I was happy that he put the pieces together on his own... but I wasn't invested in his and Mia's Epic Love. Also the Robin Hood-boy (I keep forgetting his name) is clearly being built up to be a rival LI which... I mean, I guess? I really don't see why it's necessary. 

*Although for a long time, I suspected Petal of being more than she seemed because she didn't show up in the Picture or its flashback. Then I figured she was a red herring and this was her first year at the camp... Then apparently she had been there last year but was missing from the flashback. Talking about Petal, I liked her little romance with Alex. It was good representation and shows how effortlessly you can do it without making it a "Thing". I also liked Brendan, who yes, he served mostly as comic relief but the show still managed to treat the only black character with more dignity than a lot of US productions. Talking about race, having a visible South Asian be the main character was great. Generally, the show did very well with all the markers of representation - several non-white characters (and a white "ethnic" minority), a non-binary character, a lesbian character (and Amber's pitch at Petal seemed to send the vibe that she was non-straight), a non-straight romance, an interracial romance... 

I hope the show-runners planned for longer than one series and can meet the bar they set with this one.

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I need another season.  I also wished that I could have talked about it while I was watching.  If nothing but to tell me what was going on at the end.

Wasn't it nice to have a teen show that didn't revolve around drugs and sex.  This compared to Euphoria. . . . I thought the kids were much more realistic and you can have teen shows that aren't all sex and drugs.

I loved how calculated the reveals were.  The first episode seemed like it was pretty much going to be a normal teen drama and then Amber jumps. . .

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9 hours ago, meatball77 said:

I also wished that I could have talked about it while I was watching. 

My whole family and I watched it together. I can't remember the last time that happened with a show that wasn't made by Disney or Nick Jnr. I got to watch a show that I didn't have to force myself to pay attention to. 

(Although I did cover eyes during the rose-coming-out-of-the-mouth scene because that was disturbing even for me to watch). 

When Luka left in the boat, we were all hurling insults at him. It was hilarious. 

9 hours ago, meatball77 said:

Wasn't it nice to have a teen show that didn't revolve around drugs and sex. 

I know, right?!!!

Edited by ursula
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And a show where the actors weren't screaming all the time, I'm not a fan of Disney channel acting. 

A nice drama that's neither explicit nor overly childlike or religious.

Are they all stuck on that island forever?  How did they get back to the island.

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