Brief Story Line
Story was set in the year 1981 about a tight group of popular students in an elite high school in Los Angeles. They consisted of the narrator Bret Easton (Igby Rigney - The Midnight Club TV series, Midnight Mass mini series etc), his girlfriend the very wealthy Debbie Schaffer (Singer Hayes Warner) and their best friends the student body president Susan Reynolds (Kaia Gerber - Shell, Palm Royale TV series etc) with her boyfriend star quarterback Thom (Graham Campbell). However things started to change with the appearance of new mysterious student named Robert Mallory (Homer Gere) who became part of the group and somehow ruined their dynamics.
Bret who wanted to become a writer, was working closely with Debbie's father, successful Hollywood producer Terry (Wes Bentley - Pete's Dragon, Yellowstone TV series etc) writing a script for a movie, although Terry's wife Liz (Evan Rachel Wood - Frozen 2, Once and Again TV series etc) was a bit weary of their cooperation. Meanwhile things gotten scary when few teenagers became victims of serial killer later nicknamed The Trawler. and also a dangerous cult who did some home invasions. Bret was suspicious of Robert as the Trawler and tried to prove it, but he himself had some secrets which would make his own life difficult if found out.
So what would happen to this group? You could find out in the first season of this series.
End of Brief Story Line
When I read the brief info from Disney+ on this series, I thought it sounded very interesting with serial killer set in the early 1980s. But what I did not anticipate was how much it focused on the teen drama. In fact I think it was definitely more like a coming of age story with serial killer set in the background. Disney + did not make a mistake cause there was indeed the "coming of age" classification but I was the one who thought the killing would be the main plot.
Actually I was pretty intrigued after watching the first episode as it had that vicious killing element and also the mysterious nature surrounding Robert, combined with little background on Bret's life. As the story progressed though, I began to feel that the teenage drama of romance, parties, homecoming and so on were getting more and more focused while the serial killing did not develop too much, except for few scenes involving the victims that were there seemingly just to remind audience that there is still serial killer on the loose. Now I normally do not mind if there were teen drama in a story. However if it became too much and overshadowing the part that I was interested in, it became less enjoyable. And it was made worse with the cliffhanger ending in the finale, especially after enduring the 8th episode that I totally dislike. I never thought that this was a first season cause I was always under the impression that it is a limited series and everything would be resolved. Sadly I was mistaken again.
The series was created by Ryan Murphy (creator of The Watcher mini series, American Horror Story anthology series etc). In fact it was his name that made me wanted to give this a try too cause he was a prolific series creator and his prior works were quite excellent. One thing that surprised me was when I saw the closing credits there was the name of Bret Easton Ellis as it was his novel that was the basis of this series. The book itself was a semi-autobiography of Bret, although there was statement in the beginning that it was work of fiction which made me a bit confused. Both Ryan and Bret were also co-executive producers. As I said above, the first season consisted of 9 episodes with duration between 45-53 minutes. At the time of writing, there was no news yet if it is going to be renewed.
Other than the main cast I mentioned above, there were plenty of recurring cast such as Owen Painter (Wednesday season 2 etc), Daniel Dale (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed TV series etc) and Ivy Wolk (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You etc) as other students Matt Kellner, Ryan Gifford and Really Rhonda respectively, Broadway Producer Jordan Roth as Terry's trusted assistant Steven Reinhardt and several others. It also had some guest stars that I am familiar with like Dot-Marie Jones (Glee TV series etc) as porno movie producer Jan Banxxx and Anthony Ramos (Ironheart mini series, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts etc) as Tony Cruz the Host of dancing TV show. For a series about teenagers, I thought only very few who looked convincing enough as high school students but a lot seemed too mature (my wife even commented about this when she caught glimpses of the actors & actresses). Maybe it was their make up or hair-do that made them looked that way.
In the end this was not something that I liked. Although there was serial killer but the series focused heavily on the teen drama/coming of age story with sexuality being the main issue. There were plenty of drug using and sex scenes but no nudity involved. The killings did not take center stage but there were few rather disturbing scenes showing the victims condition. I myself did not have the best of time when watching this and it was quite a disappointment for me especially when I have rather high expectation due to the big names promoted. Critics did not seem to be very impressed either with average ratings which might not bode well for the prospect of renewal. So if you are hoping for an entertaining teen serial killer series, then you might not be having great time like I did. But if you are in the mood for teen drama set in the early 1980s with its own problems and struggle during that time, then you might like this one. Just a reminder that it has not been renewed yet, hence there is a chance it might not have proper conclusion.
Mike's movie moments rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars
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