The End of the F***ing World
Premise - A teenage boy who believes he is a sociopath picks a teenage girl to be his first kill. The teenage girl who is over the world picks the teenage boy to fall in love with her. The two run away together not knowing the other's intentions and somehow both comedy and murder ensue.
Review - This is a British black comedy so I knew it had to be up my alley. I put off watching it for years for who knows what reason, but as soon as I started it only took a few days to finish. There are only two short seasons, with snappy 20-minute episodes. The two main characters are, for all of their frightening nature, charming and endearing. And I like the little lesbian side story of the cops in season 1.
I think what the show does really well is show gendered manifestations of trauma and attachment issues. James, as a boy who watched his mother kill himself, believes he feels nothing at all. He has become unempathetic, detached, and numb, therefore believing he is a sociopath. Of course, these are all the same symptoms of trauma and insecure attachment, which have everything to do with the bad things that have happened to him, and nothing to do with something being inherently "wrong" with James. We pathologize emotionally distant and violent men so often, when really, their behavior is often a gendered manifestation of trauma.
Now take Alyssa, who has also had a lot of upheaval and trauma in her family situation. Alyssa believes she feels too much. Every emotion is on loud volume and she wants someone to help her turn it down. The result is this sass-master manic-pixie type who is incredibly reckless. This is also a highly gendered manifestation of trauma and insecure attachment. There is nothing inherently "wrong" with her either, but she and James together make for some really bad behavior choices that eventually lead to even a murder scheme, so... The two are a match made in heaven or hell or... a very fucked up earth. (92/100)
Quote - "To be mad in a deranged world is not madness, it's sanity"
What to watch for - I freakin' loved the soundtrack. Want all the songs.
If you liked this show, I'd recommend Skins!
Based on the comics by Charles Forsman
Written by Charlie Covell
Distributed by Channel 4 (UK), Netflix (International)
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