‘The Society’ Season 1 Review: A Faithful Re-Telling or A Dud?

If you’re a fan of the Young Adult genre, you have no doubt seen or read about these before—Riverdale, Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and the Lord of the Flies. Most of the YA we watch and read today are definitely inspired by William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Netflix’s new installment, The Society is no different.

Like every other high school tv series out there, The Society has its own cliques and small groups. There are the jocks (obviously), the outcasts, normies, the wealthy, and of course the bullies. Each with a story to tell and a role to play in the 10 episodes of The Society.

Created by Party of Five‘s Christopher Keyser, The Society follows a group of West Ham 16-and-over teenagers who leave town for a high school field trip. However, the trip is canceled amidst bad weather and they are promptly returned home. Unbeknownst to them, nothing is at it seems. They return back to a town that’s empty and everyone is gone. Their parents, pets, younger siblings, all gone. Starting to feel like something you’ve read or watched before, isn’t it?

If you’re going into this expecting an upbeat show where teenagers mostly have sex and break rules, this isn’t for you. The Society is what happens when Lord of the Flies mashes with politics.

Even though we’ve seen it played out in a different movie or series, the premise is an okay one. For starters, the show drags in its early episodes, especially the pilot. The writing is as cringe-worthy as it is cliché. And the acting isn’t any better. However, you have to stick with it because it does get better.

Spoilers ahead for The Society from here on out, so proceed with caution.

The Society: Back To The Beginning

The teens arrive back in town at night to find out they’re alone and without adult supervision. What now? They do what most teens would do in their situation—throw parties, get drunk and have endless sex. I mean, what more could they ask for? They have the leeway to drink till they pass out and go ape-shit on the rules. For that one night, a select few are worried about not being able to reach their parents. The rest just want to have fun—until they can’t anymore.

The teens figure out that while they can call and text each other, they can’t reach anyone outside their little town of West Ham. What’s even more creepy? The town’s exits are blocked by miles and miles of forest which leaves them with no way out. Right after the partying and endless teen madness, they have to answer the inevitable questions. What is going on? Where are we? Where is everyone else? How do we get out?

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The Society: Characters And Motivations

Class president Cassandra (Rachel Keller), takes it upon herself to maintain order amidst the chaos and confusion. Her allies consist of her little sister Allie (Kathryn Newton of Big Little Lies), Sam (Sean Berdy), Will (Jacques Colimon), friendly nerd Gordie (José Julián), Becca (Gideon Adlon) and Bean (Salena Qureshi).

They’re opposed by the popular pretty and wealthy boy Harry (Alex Fitzalan). We learn that Harry lost the Class Presidency to Cassandra. This obviously makes him despise her and her “self-appointed” leadership. He is backed up by Campbell (Toby Wallace), a sadistic psychopath who would rather bathe in the madness and chaos.

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The Society: Forced Responsibility and Adulthood

This is when The Society takes a sharp turn and everything goes from zero to a hundred. A majority of this series deals with who these teenagers really are under their high school facades. They have to confront their fears, choose between unleashing their personal demons or change for the benefit of those who are alive.

In episode 1, the first death occurs. Albeit a minor character, the death sets up pretty quickly what the show is all about—teens forced to become adults, sustain law and order in a town, learn how to coexist with those they disagree with, and how everyone has to pitch in regardless of their status—ahem, Harry—disabilities and objections.

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The Society makes a huge statement on how incredibly difficult it is to cooperate for the sake of survival. Because in reality, we’re all looking out for ourselves. The show may not be ruthless enough to kill off its main characters like Game of Thrones or The 100. However, it grips its audience with suspense, such as the death of Cassandra in episode 3, Allie and The Guard having to execute Greg for the murder of Cassandra, and Campbell murdering the stray dog Elle found. That scene involving the two -Campbell and Elle- in the bathtub featured some really dark stuff. Topics such as gun ownership are explored, no doubt a nod to the landscape of the current American society and how power can perverse the good ones and the death penalty. More importantly, it shows us how teenagers handle issues they’re used to adults handling for them.

Now they have to step up.

The Society: The Good and The Bad

The Society fairly portrays the ups and downs that come with being a teenager. Allie may feel like the centre of the story but the supporting cast makes this worthwhile. From Sam talking to Becca about dying an inside-the-closet gay virgin to offering to raise her child with her (whose father is unknown). There’s Grizz, the intellectual jock with empathy and a lot of heart. Gordie, the science nerd who falls in love with Cassandra before she’s abruptly killed (that sucked). And the show’s usage of sign language is one of its best details.

The relationships in the show do leave a lot to be desired especially considering their ages. But the one between Helena (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Luke (Alex MacNicoll) is a bright spot. Who saw Grizz and Sam’s spot coming? It’s a slow build yet oddly one of the most satisfying parts of the series.

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But there’s the bad. The pacing is lackluster and the time jumps can leave you infuriated. More often than not, character arcs get interrupted. How does Will go from constantly chasing Kelly to forgetting she exists? All because Allie needs protection?

The show tackles gender roles, queerness, disability, teen pregnancy and more. But its told tamely and focuses heavily on the politics. The show clearly holds back in this regard. There should be more to characters and individuals than what is portrayed. Where are the secrets and betrayals? The backstabbing? These are teenagers. They have a myriad of emotions and personalities, especially when left unchecked. Yet we’re meant to believe this is how it plays out. We watch YA genres for the teen madness. Unfortunately, The Society doubles down on that. And instead, we get a tame version, like watching a rated-G Deadpool.

This is more of a political teen drama. The guys have little to no motivation than to be in charge (toxic masculinity). The girls? Besides the main six, the others sit around all day playing fuck, marry, kill.

The Society Season 1: Final Verdict

This show suffers from the lack of a diverse cast, in addition to the half-baked characters that struggle to keep you interested. 97% of the main cast is white. More people of color, Asian and Latin descent, perhaps? It took me six episodes before I could distinguish the jocks from the start. Surely something that wouldn’t have happened with a more diverse cast.

Besides Cassandra, Allie, Kelly, Elle, Helen, and Bean, the other female characters were one-note and uninteresting. Bean and Helena definitely need more screen time. The guys? You would be hard-pressed to find anyone you care more about if he isn’t named Harry, Campbell, Will, Grizz, Luke or Sam. Perhaps, the show would be more engrossing if we had characters we truly cared for. And I thought Hollywood was done with casting 20 plus year-olds to play teenagers? The characters are not believable as teenagers as most of them look like models (most are in reality).

Furthermore, the pacing and writing of The Society suffered from the start. The drama does pick up, and it is only then where you become more invested in certain characters. Eventually, you might begin to care about the problems these teens face and the stories they have to tell.

In the end, there are plenty of questions left unresolved. Where did that mysterious dog come from if all the pets were gone? What happened to the bus drivers that brought them back home? Then the cliffhanger at the end that’ll leave you asking if this is sci-fi, mystery, drama, or all of the above.

The Society can be much more. The premise is good but as we all know, a good premise doesn’t mean a good movie or tv series. The execution with regards to the writing, acting, stakes, and casting leaves more to be desired. Is The Society binge-worthy? Nope. Give this a solid two or three hours of your time daily or weekly but don’t go in expecting to be blown away.