My So-Called Life – S1E1 – Pilot
I decided to watch this show due to the fact that it seems to show up on every list mentioning “great 90s shows” or “cult shows that never got a fair chance.” I’ve even seen it on the occasional “Netflix should do a reboot of these shows” list. Given it’s popularity, I figured there must be something in the show worth watching. So, what about my verdict? At this point, I’m not quite seeing the catch. I mean, for a typical 90s teen drama, it’s decent, but it’s nothing that spectacular. The pilot is not anyway.
This show is teenage angst to the max. The writers seem to really enjoy maximizing teenage stereotypes for dramatic effect. Good girl Angela becomes a rebel teenager after falling into a friendship with bad girl Rayanne Graff. She no longer wants to be friends with the always good Sharon. She’s in constant defiance of her mother, and has become a mystery to her father, who can no longer understand her womanliness. Oh. Did I mention she is in love with the quiet, sultry, bad boy? Jordan Cantalano. All Angela is trying to do is survive high school, which she compares to a drive by shooting. Stereotype after stereotype after stereotype…..it goes on and on and on. Can’t we at least try to do something fresh? Something else that always bugs me about high school shows is how much time girls spend talking in the bathroom. That never happened to me in high school. I guess maybe my high school career was never scandalous enough to warrant much private bathroom discussion. Anyway, it just seems like this serves to emphasize the use of stereotypes about life in high school, rather than actually reflecting real life. Speaking of the idea of reflecting real life, the show is very 90s in its representation of bisexual character Ricky. The reaction Angela’s mother has upon discovering this information about him is very fitting for the time in which this episode aired, given that the LGBT community was even more discriminated against at that time than it is now. To a modern audience, her reaction might seem very callous and prejudiced, but remember that the representation of LGBT characters on television is still a relatively new idea. Television reflects true history and societal values better than we realize sometimes.
While the stereotypes annoyed me, it wasn’t all bad. I did appreciate the awkwardness of Jordan and Angela’s first conversation. “How do you know it’s Thursday?” “Well, yesterday was Wednesday.” It’s funny because it’s realistic. No one has a normal conversation the first time they talk to somebody they like. For instance, my first interaction with a middle school crush involved discussing the number of pencils he had in his trapper keeper. He had a lot, by the way. So, for me, weird or awkward conversation is natural, and including it innately makes a show feel more relatable.
The most redeeming part of the episode was definitely the last scene with Angela and her mother. At the end of the day, Angela still wants and needs that relationship with her mother, regardless of how much they may butt heads. All of the snarky teenage comments she makes about rebelling against her mother come full circle, with the stinger being that she and her mother actually share a common language. That one phrase “in my humble opinion” connects them better than any physical similarity could. I actually like the emphasis the episode seems to put on relationships. Family relationships, friendships, teachers, crushes, they have attempted to cover it all. I feel like if the show continues to look closely at the relationships between the characters that something really engaging could come out of those interactions.
Overall, I’m not as impressed with the show as I had hoped to be. It just feels like a play on every teenage stereotype in the book. I will keep watching the show, as I feel like it has the potential to develop some interesting character relationships. However, from what I see, the basic storyline for the show does not appear to be doing anything terribly unique from any other 90s teen drama. Hopefully they prove me wrong.
Best Quote:
Angela: I just like how he’s always leaning. Against stuff. He leans great.
Best Moment:
Angela and her mother connect at the end of the episode.
I decided to watch this show due to the fact that it seems to show up on every list mentioning “great 90s shows” or “cult shows that never got a fair chance.” I’ve even seen it on the occasional “Netflix should do a reboot of these shows” list. Given it’s popularity, I figured there must be something in the show worth watching. So, what about my verdict? At this point, I’m not quite seeing the catch. I mean, for a typical 90s teen drama, it’s decent, but it’s nothing that spectacular. The pilot is not anyway.
This show is teenage angst to the max. The writers seem to really enjoy maximizing teenage stereotypes for dramatic effect. Good girl Angela becomes a rebel teenager after falling into a friendship with bad girl Rayanne Graff. She no longer wants to be friends with the always good Sharon. She’s in constant defiance of her mother, and has become a mystery to her father, who can no longer understand her womanliness. Oh. Did I mention she is in love with the quiet, sultry, bad boy? Jordan Cantalano. All Angela is trying to do is survive high school, which she compares to a drive by shooting. Stereotype after stereotype after stereotype…..it goes on and on and on. Can’t we at least try to do something fresh? Something else that always bugs me about high school shows is how much time girls spend talking in the bathroom. That never happened to me in high school. I guess maybe my high school career was never scandalous enough to warrant much private bathroom discussion. Anyway, it just seems like this serves to emphasize the use of stereotypes about life in high school, rather than actually reflecting real life. Speaking of the idea of reflecting real life, the show is very 90s in its representation of bisexual character Ricky. The reaction Angela’s mother has upon discovering this information about him is very fitting for the time in which this episode aired, given that the LGBT community was even more discriminated against at that time than it is now. To a modern audience, her reaction might seem very callous and prejudiced, but remember that the representation of LGBT characters on television is still a relatively new idea. Television reflects true history and societal values better than we realize sometimes.
While the stereotypes annoyed me, it wasn’t all bad. I did appreciate the awkwardness of Jordan and Angela’s first conversation. “How do you know it’s Thursday?” “Well, yesterday was Wednesday.” It’s funny because it’s realistic. No one has a normal conversation the first time they talk to somebody they like. For instance, my first interaction with a middle school crush involved discussing the number of pencils he had in his trapper keeper. He had a lot, by the way. So, for me, weird or awkward conversation is natural, and including it innately makes a show feel more relatable.
The most redeeming part of the episode was definitely the last scene with Angela and her mother. At the end of the day, Angela still wants and needs that relationship with her mother, regardless of how much they may butt heads. All of the snarky teenage comments she makes about rebelling against her mother come full circle, with the stinger being that she and her mother actually share a common language. That one phrase “in my humble opinion” connects them better than any physical similarity could. I actually like the emphasis the episode seems to put on relationships. Family relationships, friendships, teachers, crushes, they have attempted to cover it all. I feel like if the show continues to look closely at the relationships between the characters that something really engaging could come out of those interactions.
Overall, I’m not as impressed with the show as I had hoped to be. It just feels like a play on every teenage stereotype in the book. I will keep watching the show, as I feel like it has the potential to develop some interesting character relationships. However, from what I see, the basic storyline for the show does not appear to be doing anything terribly unique from any other 90s teen drama. Hopefully they prove me wrong.
Best Quote:
Angela: I just like how he’s always leaning. Against stuff. He leans great.
Best Moment:
Angela and her mother connect at the end of the episode.