03. The End of the F***ing World (Dir. Jonathan Entwistle, 2017) TV Review

When this show, inspired by Charles Forman's comic book series, was first released on Netflix, it was all I ever heard about.
It was all over Twitter and Instagram. Friends constantly pestered me, asking if I had seen it yet. 
No, I thought, irritated, I'll watch it in my own time, thank you very much. 
And so, time passed. People stopped posting cute interviews of Alex Lawther (who plays the character of James in T.E.O.T.F.W) and eventually, so did the persistent comments telling me that I just had to watch it.

And so here I am, at 03:05am, after remembering that this show exists due to a subtle reminder from a friend, and binging it all in one night (it wasn't that difficult really, each episode is only twenty minutes long). 

Overall, I am torn about this show. 

It had a lot of aspects that I would usually enjoy: British humour, awkward characters, drama, Bonnie and Clyde-esque themes. And however much I would love to whole heartedly enjoy it, the poor execution of the first few episodes just ruined it for me. 

Let me just run through everything that irritated me during the first few episodes of this show.

1. Trying too hard to appeal to an "impressionable and attempting to be edgy" teen audience. This show appeals to all those preteens who wish they were like Effy Stonem from Skins, aka people who are trying to discover themselves and find it cool to romanticise mental health issues and being edgy.
2. Genuinely irritating and awful characters that have probably two redeemable features to begin with, one of them being that they're remotely attractive. The characters are introduced at the beginning as characters we usually wouldn't want to align with: a self pronounced psychopath  and a rude, nasty young girl.
3. So many clichés. Ofcourse, not everything can be cliché free as they exist in all aspects of life. However, these were clichés that I've seen before so many times. "Two outcasts with bad, verging on terrible upbringings unite on a troublesome adventure to discover that the world might not be as bad as they think with the other person in it."
4. That god damn voice over. After episode 4 the voice over becomes less frequent, which was a relief. However, the voice over detached me somewhat, irritated me because I already found the characters annoying and so hearing their every thought was even more so, and moving onto my next point, made me feel like:
5. The entirety of the beginning of the story was being spoon fed to me. Sure, we need to connect to the characters and understand how they get into the situation that they do, but the voice overs revealed too much that could have just been shown to us.

The parts of the show that I actually enjoyed were after episode 4, which is slightly disappointing as that means half of the eight episodes of the show just weren't up to scratch. The voice over became less prominent and less annoying, the story felt more like it was unfolding to me rather than being forced upon me, and the characters showed more redeemable qualities, such as loyalty and compassion, and in James' case, some damn emotion.

The sense of tension and drama was also appealing to me, in that it is revealed to the audience through inter cuts between two lesbian police officers and James and Alyssa (Jessica Barden) (in their extremely shitty disguises), as they go about unawares to the fact they are being searched for.

I think the last episode is what leaves me torn. I just can't seem to allow myself to like these characters. The last few episodes genuinely provided such massive improvement and character development in comparison to the first episodes that it sort of has me hooked, and makes me want to find out what happens to Alyssa, and especially James after he runs off frantically down the beach being shot at.

Finishing the series on a cut to black, with the resonating sound of a gunshot, was also a great choice to make. This way, either there is potential for there to be a second season and provide answers to all of the questions audiences have, or it is a way to end on a cliff hanger and allow viewers to make their own theories and predictions for the characters futures. 

Overall, even though there were some issues that I personally had with this show, I did find it somewhat enjoyable, and I think if people look past those issues then they would enjoy it. The redeeming qualities that it does have will definitely encourage me to watch if it does gain a second season. 

Paige Nicole