I love a great crime drama. They’re riveting, make you ask questions, and prod at things like flawed infrastructures.
So many crime dramas approach angles of the show from the point of view of a grizzled, jaded law enforcement officer determined to expose or take down something.
Sometimes, we view things from the “bad guy” perspective to explore the complexities of the human psyche, motivations, and how or why someone did what they did.
Adolescence Supports the Argument That British Crime Dramas Are Top-Tier
Most crime dramas love to focus on the “Who did it?” aspect of the investigation. As viewers, we’re thrust into a mystery where we’re trying to solve heinous cases alongside devoted but complicated investigators who may or may not follow the book.
Crime dramas often adopt a binary approach of “heroes” and “villains” depending on the story they’re trying to tell.
Even when they’re trying to explore things with nuance and layers, there’s still a level of predictability to the standard crime drama.
However, some of the more compelling angles to explore aren’t so much “who” did something but “why” because we tend to forget that motivations are sometimes more important than anything else.
Adolescence is a four-episode crime drama whose taut but riveting storytelling fixates on the “why.” Surprisingly, we learn who killed a young girl within the first episode, and even that revelation is as jarring as the series’ opener.
Adolescence is a prime example of how British crime procedurals are often some of the best in the game.
Yes, sometimes it’s frustrating when they have ridiculously short seasons comprised of single-digit episodes—which tends to be offputting for some.
Adolescence Utilizes All of Its Tools and Artistry to Tell a Provocative Story
But when it comes down to it, it’s not about how many episodes you have to tell the story you want, but ensuring that you’re utilizing the proper approach to convey that story well and effectively. Adolescence does that to the hilt.
The most gripping aspect of this series is its use of the single-camera method to tell its story. It’s perfectly immersive and disorienting, and one of the most effective uses of this method.
It’s not gimmicky in the least. Adolescence doesn’t feel as if it’s going out of its way to impress viewers or anyone else with this approach or that it’s self-congratulatory in how it films. Instead, it’s this fantastically provocative way of immersing us into the story seconds in.
The best stories on television are those that make you feel something. From the opening moments, I was disoriented and anxious following these unknown police officers into a seemingly normal family’s home as they raided the place, guns at the ready, scaring the living daylight out of everyone in the house.
It was meant to make you feel things, anxious, sympathetic, and frankly, ready to defend these unknown people with your last breath at the extreme measures taken to disrupt their lives.
The minutes felt like hours as they tossed a small-framed teenage boy into a van and overwhelmed him with reading his rights and talking about lawyers.
The Series Doesn’t Treat Viewers As if They’re Dumb
The hustle and bustle of the station, the lighting, and the entire processing of what appeared to be a child was enough to set anyone on edge.
And all the while, we had no idea what he had done or what was going on this entire time.
Some shows manipulate audiences brutally to show off that they can, and it’s infuriating and insulting.
But then there are other shows, like Adolescence, that slickly play into our preconceived notions not to shove them in our faces to teach us a lesson or be facetious but because they genuinely aim to explore the human condition without judgment.
Adolescence plays into the latter wonderfully, as an innate protectiveness over this young boy against a criminal justice system that is notably flawed in its approach to children begins to gradually shift when we learn why Jamie is there and see pretty much what he’s done in 4K.
The premiere effectively spends half of the episode making us sympathize with this child, only to pull the rug from under our feet, much like his family, particularly father Eddie, with the truth about what Jamie has done.
But it’s not even Adolescence’s intention to screw with the audiences, only to encourage dialogue about so many topics, but namely the incel culture that has pervaded young men, how it extends to a rise in misogyny and harm against young girls, and how we got to this point in the first place.
Adolescence Raises Questions in Exploring Many Facets of An Uncomfortable Problem
Adolescence explores these problems, peeling back the cover on something many of us have seen or noticed but don’t know how to respond to nor figure out. It doesn’t have any answers; it just presents many questions, and in doing so, it’s unsettling in its effectiveness and resonance.
What do we do when confronted with a problem that everyone knows exists but no one has the key to fully understanding and resolving it?
Because of this approach and Adolescene’s subtly touching on the various systems in place that may contribute to this epidemic, the series never feels preachy—just honest, raw, and provocative.
The series instantly resonates because it’s so real, from musician scores of young children singing in choir to the realistic, simple makeup, wardrobe, and design approaches.
Adolescence doesn’t want to assign blame in any one direction. It carefully addresses many angles of this issue.
Jamie and Katie’s school, with its overworked and overwhelmed teachers trying to keep an increasingly hostile group of disinterested students at best and disruptive and disrespectful students at worst in line, honestly depicted a cracked school system.
Adolescence Subtly Highlights Flaws Without Fixating On Specific Blame When Unpacking Convoluted Issue
A jaded criminal justice system that no longer distinguishes between children and adults, with its own subsection of issues, is on display but not at the hub of this story.
Social media’s role in radicalizing young people is touched upon, just as bullying is something to mention but without implying it’s at the center of everything or some form of justification — because it isn’t.
Jamie’s family is perfectly normal and happy, yet his actions force them to reexamine every facet of who they are and how they could’ve contributed to their son’s actions.
The series places masculinity, particularly toxic masculinity, under the scope, but it doesn’t exactly have any answers, nor is it bombarding people with a slew of buzzwords that don’t register.
And the relationships between boys and their fathers are particularly scrutinized as the cycle of masculinity and how it can become toxic to the point of violence is so intricately linked to that dynamic.
Adolescence highlights this as much with Eddie and Jamie as it does with DI Bascombe and his own son. He admits he never really knows how to connect with his son.
Adolescence Places Masculinity and Male Dynamics Under the Scope Without Being Preachy
Katie’s best friend was an excellent stand-in for women advocating for female victims when even the well-intentioned are still looking for the “why” when trying to determine what this young girl could’ve done to end up brutally stabbed and her culpability in her own death.
Notably, Adolescence doesn’t spend much time on the victim. It’s a choice that would be harmful in other instances, albeit realistic as it’s true that no one remembers the victims outside of their loved ones, only the person who harmed them.
But the series pursues an alternative stream of storytelling here — an inequally necessary one, unpacking something like incel culture.
Here, it’s compelling to explore the innocent family of this young boy who did something so unthinkable as they, too, find themselves victims in an entirely different manner.
They’re forever tied to his infamy while trying to understand, like any decent human would, where or how they went wrong, what could’ve been better, and what happened.
Adolescence’s focus on the emotions of this heinous act and the ripple effects make it prime viewing, and you cannot take your eyes away.
The Series Subverts Expectations in a Refreshing, Thought-Provoking Manner
And it never wastes a second of its time (not even during some lengthy, seemingly innocuous moments in the finale episode).
It is fascinating to focus not explicitly on the crime but on how the environment could cause a crime like this to exist or for a concerning growing culture to thrive.
Adolescence also produces some of the best performances onscreen in some time. Veteran actor Stephen Graham is sublime in this, but it’s not much of a surprise for anyone familiar with his pedigree.
But the third episode was a masterclass showcasing the immense talent of young Owen Cooper. Knowing that it’s his acting debut is still utterly shocking to even process.
We’ve pondered where all the talented young stars are these days and whether Gen-Z produces the talent that generations before it has, and Cooper is emblematic of that talent out there existing in its rawest form. He’s not just exceptional as a novice; he’s outstanding, period.
But even as a diehard fan of crime dramas, with so many of them coming from every direction, Adolescence is an utterly engrossing break from form.
Today, many crime dramas mistake grittiness for authenticity and bleak darkness for illumination. Or the overt commentary feels more exploitative and preachy than compelling.
Adolescence subverts all these expectations and is, in turn, the most excellent crime drama of this year. It’s doubtful any other will come close.
Over to you, TV Fanatics.
Did you tune into Adolescence? What’s your view on the short series? Let’s hear it below!
Watch Adolescence Online
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