3 out of 5

Directed by: Jonathan Entwistle, Lucy Tcherniak

Granted, I purposefully finished the comic book version of this directly prior to viewing, so, despite my claims to be able to separate media experiences (i.e. a movie / show is treated differently than a book / comic), the spectre of the read was gosh-darn close by, time wise, and should be considered.

…Because I can’t say if the serialized version of Forsman’s doomy comic would have impacted me otherwise without seeing so clearly what was changed.  I want to claim it wouldn’t have, because I don’t necessarily dislike the changes: I completely understand them in terms of making the show expandable and the characters more likeable.  Those two factors were definitely my main curiosities, in as much as how they would be handled, prior to streaming.  However, I think my feeling, that these changes inevitably undermine the books core themes and make a challenging concept into something quirky but normal, is valid, and mostly without the taint of bias.  So it’s reader beware: as stated, I’m fresh off of the directly comparable version when parsing this review.

James is the outcast in all of us  – quiet, ununderstanding of the world around him, forcing a smile when he thinks it appropriate – though perhaps he has some slightly killier inclinations than others, such as his plans to murder his girlfriend, Alyssa.  Why he plans to so this is tough to say, but it seems like something to do, for a boy to whom emotions and feelings have seemed at a distance.

For her part, Alyssa is a similar misanthrope, drifting toward James because he’s an outcast, then bouncing around a vague feeling of love due to what she sees as the boy’s very moldable, guide-able, but sweet personality.  “Sweet” meaning she’s unaware of them murder plans, of course.

And when the duo decide to fuck off out of their individually unfortunate living arrangements (he with an emotionally stunted dad, her with a permissive-to-her-lecherous-stepfather mother), events happen, and escalate, and their bond is reformulated…

Spoilery, what starts as a bleak – and darkly comedic, given how it’s shot and presented and scored – exploration of DIY emotions in the modern era transitions into the usual ‘love saves the day’ mantra, albeit with leads who dress rattily, rob conveniemce stores, and stab people.  Netflix wisely kept the episodes to a palatable 30 minutes, and the series to an equally digestible 8 episodes, meaning we maintain a good pace throughout, although some relationship backstory between the two cops – Eunice and Teri – who end up chasing the teens is incredibly fillery – but once the show makes that turn toward “real” emotions and not ones hollowed out by the world, it loses its bite, as well as some believability: James and Alyssa’s recklessness makes their initial actions fascinating; hemmed into the more accessible versions of their characters makes them feel fictional.

But: the show is definitely entertainingly bingeable, with apealling casting, and the decision to make this an Irish production gives it – I say, in my never-leaves-NY Americanism – a nice rusticism that many not have worked in the downtrodden America setting of Forsman’s book.