The End of the F***ing World - Netflix/Ch4 series

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Deesky, Jan 7, 2018.

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  1. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I just finished this new series and I liked it a lot. It's quirky, twisted, dark and yet optimistic - an unusual combination to be sure. You may be put off by the opening scenes in ep1, but if you stick with it and you like smart coming of age stories, then you will be rewarded.

    Both leads are excellent and really make this short series (8 eps of about 21 mins) compelling.

    The setting is somewhat quirky as well. It's clearly a Brit production and yet many of the locales evoke an American, Midwestern setting.

    The other thing it's got going for it is a rather brilliant, retro soundtrack.

    Recommended, if you're after something different.
     
  2. sentinel90125

    sentinel90125 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Great summary! It seems to be getting universal acclaim and I thought it was very well done. Highly recommended if you are open to the premise.
     
  3. Len-ski

    Len-ski Forum Resident

    Location:
    Goffstown,NH
    I watched them all yesterday, couldn’t stop watching. I thought it was excellent.
     
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  4. Dave Garrett

    Dave Garrett Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    The title certainly sounds promising. :)
     
  5. DHamilton

    DHamilton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Earth
    I liked it !
     
  6. Strummergas

    Strummergas Senior Member

    Location:
    Queens, NY
    Just blasted through the entire series. It was excellent. I couldn't help but think it wasn't just a little influenced by Hal Hartley's early 90s movies (especially "Trust"), but that's not at all a complaint.
     
  7. Highly recommended.
     
  8. DHamilton

    DHamilton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Earth
    I found the soundtrack very eclectic and engaging as well. Wonder if there will be a proper release of the soundtrack?
     
  9. Strummergas

    Strummergas Senior Member

    Location:
    Queens, NY
    The soundtrack was good, but I thought there was perhaps a little too much music crammed into each episode. They're only about 20 minutes long and it seems like there was a new song playing every 2 minutes or so.
     
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  10. I watched the first two episodes tonight and I can't recall a more f###ed up premise for a TV show.

    I mean...

    This kid really wants to kill, and this chick really likes him, yet she's dysfunctional in her own right, which makes for really neurotic interactions between the two...

    ...Which means I like it! :D
     
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  11. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Yeah, the premise is out there, but it transforms into something different as it goes along. It's really a fantastic bit of storytelling...
     
  12. marmalade166

    marmalade166 Sous les pavés, la plage!

    Location:
    Aberdeen, Scotland
    I just finished it, and the ending affected me way more than I thought it would
     
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  13. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    Thanks for the heads up on this. Been looking for a new half hour show on Netflix to pick up on and this sounds promising!
     
  14. Ethan B

    Ethan B Forum Resident

    Location:
    san diego
    Same here my daughter and I watched all in one go after giving one episode a try. Highly recommended.
     
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  15. hybrid_77

    hybrid_77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    Great show. Are they planning on doing any more episodes? Alyssa was a hoot. I liked the 20 minute format.

     
  16. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I'm not sure, but I suspect the temptation would be to do so, given the buzz and I assume high viewership numbers. The ending felt like it was set up as a cliffhanger.

    However, I have mixed feelings about doing another season as this felt like a perfect self-contained miniseries. I have similar 'leave well enough alone' feelings as I do towards 13 Reasons Why, Little Big Lies and to a lesser extent The Handmaid's Tale. Arguably Bloodline would also have worked better as a (one season) miniseries.
     
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  17. marmalade166

    marmalade166 Sous les pavés, la plage!

    Location:
    Aberdeen, Scotland
    Alyssa and the actress who played her really reminded me of the girls I grew up with here in the UK, so much so it was uncanny!
     
  18. Ethan B

    Ethan B Forum Resident

    Location:
    san diego
    There are some canny girls in Scotland.
     
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  19. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Agreed. They’ll probably do a second season for this, but I think it’s best if they didn’t. I felt the ending was perfect and I don’t see where they can go with another season without it being predictable and a bit trite.

    Great little series that played like a long movie.
     
  20. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    One review I read suggested that this was really a movie with credits dropped in every twenty minutes... their feeling was, if people are going to sit and binge the whole thing in two and a half hours, isn’t it really a film? They felt it would have played better uninterrupted ... but the thinking was, binge-watching shows is trendy so let’s break it into chunks and call it a series.
     
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  21. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I wish it wouldn't have transformed. The "waiting-for-the-killing" premise hooked me in, but the last three episodes were a bore once that paradigm shifted to the more predictable turn of things. For a short season, it ran out of steam fast. Should have stuck with the original premise otherwise it's just another kids on the run movie.
     
  22. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Completely disagree. Had it just been a standard psycho-killer type thing, ending when the deed was done, it would have been a predicable bore, pointless and unworthy of any praise IMO.
     
  23. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    Thank you to the OP for the recommendation. I was vaguely of this programme but I’d assumed it was a teen drama a la Skins or something. Now I’ve watched the whole series, over 2 nights, I think it’s entirely possible this is the best thing I’ve ever seen. It had everything you’d find in Let The Right One In with more jokes and a better soundtrack. What more can you ask?

    The only criticism I can make is that they didn’t use the Nancy Sinatra version of the (near) title song over the closing credits.

    And for those of you wondering if we need a second series, of course we do.
     
  24. Encuentro

    Encuentro Forum Resident

    Well, the irony is that if we didn’t get a second series, James’ fate would be up in the air. Getting a second series pretty much assures us that James will survive.
     
  25. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    No, it should have run:

    He wants to kill her
    He begins to like her and has doubts about killing her as they pull together in adversity.
    Soon, we're sure they're in love.
    He kills her.

    That I would have enjoyed. Hitchcock would have been snickering in his grave.

    As it stands, once killing "didn't feel like I expected" (cheap, easy cop out which I actually anticipated hearing and hoped they weren't going to do -- but they did) the paradigm shifted then all that tension died (and it was a very clever conceit) they then had to substitute a wrong-killer-being-chased plot to keep things limping along. It's sort of like if Dr. Lecter had renounced meat halfway through "Silence of the Lambs." I thought it was a really so-so ending. I wouldn't call it a "cliffhanger" ending because those are usually exciting. And as far as an "open ending" Did he live or die?" Zzzzzzzz. Not enough concerned at that point to care. (Did any one really like James? I'd call it payback for all cats) Instead, I'd call it an absolute return because it looks like a really cheap show to make and Netflix loves content.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2018
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