April 4Apr 4 Yeah, social media sucks. Imagine growing up and knowing everything people thought and said about you at school. That said, completely ignoring the victim’s side of the story is a sad misstep. I like the tight story, but 1 Jamie centric scene wouldn’t have pulled anybody out The kid portraying Jamie will be a star if he nails down an American accent and avoids Guy Ritchie movies. An Andrew Tate v Netflix lawsuit would be awesome. I hope it happens. PostScript: Jamie is a 13 year old juvenile in the UK. He does 5, at most 10 years, in a specialized facility and gets out and can start again. Meanwhile, Katie is in a urn or a hole. I fail to sympathize with him. I get his family’s shame, but again, Jamie has the opportunity for another chance.
April 4Apr 4 Author I think the a-ha story in the van is a critical contrast. In the pre-social media age a very embarrassing incident becomes a funny story everybody remembers fondly and laughs about.
April 4Apr 4 Watched it this week and thought it was very well done. Hard to say I liked it because the subject matter was tough, but I am glad I watched it. Some of the scenes in the final 2 episodes were especially heavy on the emotions, just making you feel awful for the people involved, which I think is a testament to the writing and acting. Stephen Graham in the final episode was phenomenal and his grief was palpable.The way each episode was a continuous evolving shot was pretty incredible and made me feel as if I was part of the action. Here’s a cool article about their filming:https://variety.com/2025/artisans/news/adolescence-one-take-episodes-netflix-1236339292/One of the themes was the hazards of social media for adolescents, and I do feel terrible for kids having to navigate that today. As a parent though, the part that resonated with me the most was the perspective of the parents, their grief, their struggle to pick up the pieces and solve the problem of today, and their questioning of what they could have done differently. That’s a scary thing to think about. You can do a ton of things right but neglect one seemingly small area and have your world unravel.It was the kind of series that left me with a lot to think about.
April 20Apr 20 Watched the 3rd episode last night. Holy shit. Typically I'm not one that pays enough attention to whether a performance is good or bad and only really notice if it's either really bad or really good. Even before Jamies first "blow up" with the therapist, I turned to my wife and said that kid is a good fucking actor. The tension in that room was palpable. And it's series like this that make me glad I don't have young kids in today's world.
April 23Apr 23 Netflix is nominating Owen Cooper for the Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series Emmy. He is the youngest actor ever nominated in that category.
June 22Jun 22 It's been on my list since it came out. We watched it over the weekend. Perfectly done. The camera work was great and the acting was incredible.
September 15Sep 15 Kid won for Best Supporting Actor in a limited series and got the award from Sydney Sweeney and her giant breasts. Living the life.
September 15Sep 15 37 minutes ago, mdmost said: Kid won for Best Supporting Actor in a limited series and got the award from Sydney Sweeney and her giant breasts. Living the life. And the first thing he did when getting on stage was to give her a close hug. Smart kid.
September 15Sep 15 40 minutes ago, Ttownguy said: And the first thing he did when getting on stage was to give her a close hug. Smart kid. But seriously, should I watch this show? I was at the gym a month ago and needed something to watch while I was on the treadmill. I landed on this and after about 20 minutes, I was ready to bawl my eyes out thinking about my two teenage boys (and also because I'm a fatass who is terrible at cardio). I haven't watched it since.
September 15Sep 15 And if you want something truly scary that’s not fiction watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix.
September 15Sep 15 9 hours ago, Ttownguy said: And the first thing he did when getting on stage was to give her a close hug. Smart kid. Shooters shoot
September 15Sep 15 10 hours ago, HornOnTheBayou said: But seriously, should I watch this show? It's a great show, albeit disturbing subject matter. The story was well done and the acting top-notch across the board. The production was amazing being a single, continuous shot for each episode. It really blows my mind that they are able to pull that off with so many actors and different locations.
September 16Sep 16 This is intense. Episode 3 holy shit. Are these really single takes with no cuts or direction? How the heck can they do that? Edited September 16Sep 16 by Elvis
September 16Sep 16 1 hour ago, Elvis said: This is intense. Episode 3 holy shit. Are these really single takes with no cuts or direction? How the heck can they do that? I listened to Stephen Graham on Smartless and he explained the process. IIRC, they spent a week taping each episode. Ten takes total, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You can't help but like the guy after his interview.
September 16Sep 16 I think Netflix put out some YouTube videos on how they shot these. It really is an amazing process especially when they go in the house as it was not very big. The runner was done with an open window. There is some CGI but more for background stuff.
September 17Sep 17 On 9/14/2025 at 10:02 PM, mdmost said: Yes. Every parent should watch it. Hmm, I'm bored. What should I watch tonight. Ohh I know, let me settle in on a little show about my worst fucking nightmare. Where's the popcorn?
September 17Sep 17 Only 4 episodes. I didn’t realize that and was disappointed. What a show. Incredible acting and gripping story. I talked to my brother about it. He has two teen daughters. He said he had no interest in the topic and it would be too difficult. I advised him it’s not really about the girl.
September 22Sep 22 Binged the show recently. So powerful especially in seeing how each episode is one long take. I read the 4th episode was the 16th take. I couldn’t imagine how Stephen Graham did that 16 (maybe more) times. I’m certain he’s only off camera a few seconds of that episode. interesting choice how they introduced people and storylines that were left unresolved. Many shows don’t do that. The detective’s son was bullied, the victim was also bullied, the victim’s best friend was left angry, the psychologist abruptly left the story, and we didn’t fully understand Jamie’s interaction with the manosphere world except he was labeled an incel. The audience doesn’t always need closure on everything. And as the OP mentioned, the victim was intentionally left out. We barely glimpsed a photo of her. I wonder if the creators have it in them to address the victim and her family with a sequel.
September 22Sep 22 I think the lack of talking about the victim and highlighting her was a bit of the point. Victims typically are rarely touched on as everything shifts to why did the suspect do what he or she did. The friend even said no one will remember her. Her walking off alone was yet another sad moment in the show as she didn't appear to have many friends and had a shitty homelife. The series addressed more the people who the boy's actions directly affected in the school and his home. The school was more to show that the adults really didn't have a handle on anything that was going on. The detective's son said the bullying went both ways as the victim was the one calling him an incel and they went back and forth. Originally, the detective thought the victim liked Jamie until his son pointed out she was making fun of Jamie. The parents of the victim would have no reason to go to the school and about the only place they would've worked in would've been the memorial to her when the dad goes there with the flowers. I don't think the manosphere was totally blamed here as the parents even said he would get incredibly angry at times and they should've done more to address that. You saw that when Jamie blew up on the psychologist and then quickly backtracked.
September 22Sep 22 16 hours ago, mdmost said: The school was more to show that the adults really didn't have a handle on anything that was going on. The death of a young person is tragic but I was also horrified by the behavior in the school. I realize its a show but it made me wonder how kids behave in schools these days. The reaction of the students to their classmates being murdered and arrested was almost like it was a video game. I know laughter can sometimes mask other emotions but there wasn't much sign of that.
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