The Innocents - Season 1
I have made it my mission to watch all Netflix originals. Quite a while ago actually, because I secretly like pretty much all of them. Apart from only a few, all original shows (that I've seen so far) have been enjoyable. The Innocents is no exception to this rule. This is a spoiler free review.
The Innocents is a British-Norwegian drama series that focuses on the teens June (Sorcha Groundsell) and Harry (Percelle Ascott) who run away from home together as June is about to move away. The well-planned escape attempt is disrupted once it becomes clear that June has supernatural powers. She can transform into someone else. In the English tongue, she is known as a 'shapeshifter'.
The cast isn't really well-known in Hollywood, but the acting is solid. Guy Pearce (When We Rise) is the only major name in the series. The show is mainly spoken in English, but it has a darker vibe, which we usually see in shows from the Scandinavian region. Every now and then we hear a couple of Norwegian sentences, this makes sure you will regain attention (if you're looking at your phone or something, at least). Once Norwegian is spoken most of us will have no choice but to read the subtitles.
The plot is quite straightforward. There aren't many side stories, which results in the story not being that complicated. The structure is easy to spot, with a clear beginning, middle and end. This makes the show a solid binge show. The straightforward plot doesn't mean that the story is predictable, there are actually several mysteries to which you don't get the answer straightaway. This keeps the show interesting, you have to keep asking yourself 'what's up with that?'. This, however, doesn't distract you from the main plot as these mysteries all tie into the main plot.
The characters of The Innocents are well elaborated, in my opinion. June and Harry are typical teenagers, a bit naive and they seem to think they can take on the entire world. The 'enemies' have valid reasons for acting the way they do and we as viewers know exactly how and why they try to capture June. I will not say too much about the other characters as that would spoil quite a few things.
The Innocents adds a whole new kind of show to the list of drama series on Netflix. There weren't any supernatural teen dramas to be found among the content before this show. I think it's a good thing that Netflix tries various genres and doesn't bring too much of the same. The Innocents is an exciting new show, it's not too long and has plenty of excitement. The characters are well written and the main storyline isn't convoluted. It ends on an interesting cliffhanger, which could lead to a second season.
The show has been made available only recently, but I do hope it gets renewed for another season. It'll probably take quite some time before we are told if it'll come to that, but if it wouldn't happen it's definitely not due to the quality of the show. I give The Innocents a score of 7.5. The slow start cost quite a few points and no show is perfect. I tend to score shows based on how I feel about them. A 7.5 is quite high in my book. Let's hope for a second season and remember the mantra: 'Keep calm, come to no harm'.
The Innocents is a British-Norwegian drama series that focuses on the teens June (Sorcha Groundsell) and Harry (Percelle Ascott) who run away from home together as June is about to move away. The well-planned escape attempt is disrupted once it becomes clear that June has supernatural powers. She can transform into someone else. In the English tongue, she is known as a 'shapeshifter'.
The cast isn't really well-known in Hollywood, but the acting is solid. Guy Pearce (When We Rise) is the only major name in the series. The show is mainly spoken in English, but it has a darker vibe, which we usually see in shows from the Scandinavian region. Every now and then we hear a couple of Norwegian sentences, this makes sure you will regain attention (if you're looking at your phone or something, at least). Once Norwegian is spoken most of us will have no choice but to read the subtitles.
The show starts off quite slow. At first it looks like a common teen drama and thus it didn't haven't my attention straight away. Tension was built up slowly and starting from episode three (out of eight) my eyes were glued to the screen. But, when the tension was finally there, it was most certainly exciting. I've watched the entire show in approximately three days (it consists of only eight episodes after all) and that was mainly because I couldn't stop watching.The Innocents adds a whole new kind of show to the list of drama series on Netflix.
The plot is quite straightforward. There aren't many side stories, which results in the story not being that complicated. The structure is easy to spot, with a clear beginning, middle and end. This makes the show a solid binge show. The straightforward plot doesn't mean that the story is predictable, there are actually several mysteries to which you don't get the answer straightaway. This keeps the show interesting, you have to keep asking yourself 'what's up with that?'. This, however, doesn't distract you from the main plot as these mysteries all tie into the main plot.
The characters of The Innocents are well elaborated, in my opinion. June and Harry are typical teenagers, a bit naive and they seem to think they can take on the entire world. The 'enemies' have valid reasons for acting the way they do and we as viewers know exactly how and why they try to capture June. I will not say too much about the other characters as that would spoil quite a few things.
The Innocents adds a whole new kind of show to the list of drama series on Netflix. There weren't any supernatural teen dramas to be found among the content before this show. I think it's a good thing that Netflix tries various genres and doesn't bring too much of the same. The Innocents is an exciting new show, it's not too long and has plenty of excitement. The characters are well written and the main storyline isn't convoluted. It ends on an interesting cliffhanger, which could lead to a second season.
The show has been made available only recently, but I do hope it gets renewed for another season. It'll probably take quite some time before we are told if it'll come to that, but if it wouldn't happen it's definitely not due to the quality of the show. I give The Innocents a score of 7.5. The slow start cost quite a few points and no show is perfect. I tend to score shows based on how I feel about them. A 7.5 is quite high in my book. Let's hope for a second season and remember the mantra: 'Keep calm, come to no harm'.
