WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: It is a TV show with so much going on in it that somehow meshes together when it really shouldn't. It was renewed by Netflix after receiving a really good reception to its first season, but that renewal was retracted due to the pandemic making the uncertainty of retaining such a large cast financially unfeasible. My heart hopes that when it's safe to film again, maybe the creators will get to re-renewed or find a new home for it, if the cast hasn't moved on. Anyway...
The Society is a late-teen/high school-age kids show, but it turns a lot of that on its head in its short ten-episode run. I do not want to spoil too many of the details, but essentially the juniors and seniors from a small New England town are sent on a field trip, a welcome escape from a mysterious, unpleasant smell of unknown origin. After riding the bus toward their destination for hours, their trip is abruptly canceled, and they are bused back home, only to find that "home" is exactly the same but devoid of all other people.
The series addresses a lot of interesting concerns about self-management and government and human nature. It sort of shows the ugly parts of all forms of self-government that human beings tend to turn to, including a complete lack of it. There is an unresolved supernatural element to it that may be sci-fi, fantasy, or a mix of both.
In reviews, I have seen it compared to a modern day twist on Lord of the Flies but also, perhaps more interestingly, The Pied Piper. Unfortunately, some of the most brain-teasing aspects of the series remain plot threads that we will likely never see resolved now, but that's why I would love more fic for this series!
If you liked the first couple of seasons of The 100, you will probably like this, but it has a far more mundane setting and a lower body count.
The series also has a good balance of presenting unsupervised teens as being often-sexual creatures without being lurid or exploitative, which is something I see criticized by some "high school shows" these days.
The series really respects its characters as being independent people capable of thought, organization, and moral reasoning while also allowing them to suffer the consequences of their immaturity. It really evokes this sense of "back to the state of nature" with interesting twists on it. It has a diverse cast and several character archetypes and ship dynamics to choose from.
The most popular ship is a m/m ship where one of the characters is deaf and uses ASL.
There are a lot of intriguing but different female characters, too! And there is potential for m/f and f/f ships as well. There were no officially canon f/f ships, but there is one that had enough material to be considered potentially going that way by some fans.
A word of warning is that there is a character with a mental illness that is identified as psychopathy, and this character is involved in one of the most realistic abusive relationships I have ever seen depicted. If you are sensitive to this or any other common squicks/triggers, you might want to look it up on something like Does the Dog Die.
no subject
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: It is a TV show with so much going on in it that somehow meshes together when it really shouldn't. It was renewed by Netflix after receiving a really good reception to its first season, but that renewal was retracted due to the pandemic making the uncertainty of retaining such a large cast financially unfeasible. My heart hopes that when it's safe to film again, maybe the creators will get to re-renewed or find a new home for it, if the cast hasn't moved on. Anyway...
The Society is a late-teen/high school-age kids show, but it turns a lot of that on its head in its short ten-episode run. I do not want to spoil too many of the details, but essentially the juniors and seniors from a small New England town are sent on a field trip, a welcome escape from a mysterious, unpleasant smell of unknown origin. After riding the bus toward their destination for hours, their trip is abruptly canceled, and they are bused back home, only to find that "home" is exactly the same but devoid of all other people.
The series addresses a lot of interesting concerns about self-management and government and human nature. It sort of shows the ugly parts of all forms of self-government that human beings tend to turn to, including a complete lack of it. There is an unresolved supernatural element to it that may be sci-fi, fantasy, or a mix of both.
In reviews, I have seen it compared to a modern day twist on Lord of the Flies but also, perhaps more interestingly, The Pied Piper. Unfortunately, some of the most brain-teasing aspects of the series remain plot threads that we will likely never see resolved now, but that's why I would love more fic for this series!
If you liked the first couple of seasons of The 100, you will probably like this, but it has a far more mundane setting and a lower body count.
The series also has a good balance of presenting unsupervised teens as being often-sexual creatures without being lurid or exploitative, which is something I see criticized by some "high school shows" these days.
The series really respects its characters as being independent people capable of thought, organization, and moral reasoning while also allowing them to suffer the consequences of their immaturity. It really evokes this sense of "back to the state of nature" with interesting twists on it. It has a diverse cast and several character archetypes and ship dynamics to choose from.
The most popular ship is a m/m ship where one of the characters is deaf and uses ASL.
There are a lot of intriguing but different female characters, too! And there is potential for m/f and f/f ships as well. There were no officially canon f/f ships, but there is one that had enough material to be considered potentially going that way by some fans.
A word of warning is that there is a character with a mental illness that is identified as psychopathy, and this character is involved in one of the most realistic abusive relationships I have ever seen depicted. If you are sensitive to this or any other common squicks/triggers, you might want to look it up on something like Does the Dog Die.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?(optional): Netflix!