There is an immediate cultural backlash to anything that looks too heavily targeted at teenage girls that permeates discussion of most young adult works. Unfortunately,First Killis a decent idea and some solid fine details buried beneath an avalanche of problems all too familiar to the genre.
The series is based on a short story by showrunner V. E. Schwab, who has several other literaryprojects heading to the screenin the near future. The difficulties of stretching a 34-page short story into just over six hours of streaming TV content are demonstrated by this work in a way that could be taught in screenwriting classrooms.
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In scenic Savannah, Georgia(shot on location, to great effect), a town known for various hauntings, 16-year-old Juliette becomes instantly infatuated with her new classmate Calliope. Jules comes from an ages-old line of high-born vampires who have evolved beyond most classic downsides of the species. Cal comes from a family of monster hunters and has been trained from birth to kill things that go bump in the night. Juliette and Calliope’s romance is a whirlwind, instantly overwhelming both young ladies' instincts to kill the other. The comparisonstoRomeo and Julietare both entirely intentional and mentioned in the script far too often.
The title refers to the fact that both Juliette and Calliope are on the precipice of their momentous first kill. Juliette is set to kill her first human for sustenance while Calliope is preparing toslay her first monster. The expectations of each family are the most prominent aspect of the storytelling. Both families are shockingly well-realized, with a lot of interesting details that unfortunately fail to go anywhere. The teens' messy romance and attempts to dodge their vastly different families result in chaos throughout Savannah and threaten to expose both monsters and hunters. The season is unfocused and chaotic throughout. Elements are brought up that have no impact by the end of the season. The overarching storytelling is intensely unfocused, and it really drags down the overall success of the season.
The central romance is the beating heart of the story. Individual responses vary, but if the slightly tropey banter andvery YA novel-esquelove at first sight romance aspects work, the rest of the series will go down smoothly. The novelty of a sincere, physical, and almost fairy tale lesbian relationship is a huge part of the series' appeal. It’s worth pointing out that the same-sex nature of their romance is key to the narrative, but LGBTQ issues between the two only exist in metaphor. There is a subplot about Juliette’s gay best friend that occasionally trends into stereotype territory and deals with a closeted side character that may be a tough watch for some. The main relationship, however, is refreshing for several reasons. The fact that theprofit-driven people at Netflixfelt the need to gamble on the project to get a lesbian YA romance on the screen is at least heartening for the state of the industry. Unfortunately, Netflix wasn’t willing to gamble very much.
First Killclearly didn’t have a lot of cash to play with. The CGI and the action choreography feel eerily similar to late-nineties and early 2000s episodes ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer. Some works hide their low budget well or use clever tricks to pull it off, others are brought down as their ambition overreaches their cash flow.First Killdoes a fair amount of both, occasionally pulling off some impressive feats and occasionally looking like bad fan filmmaking. Given Netflix’s current state, it’s hard to blame the creators for the effects, and fans will have to hope against hope for a second season, but it’s unlikely.
The show is a mixed bag. The central romance wavers between charming and dull. Both families are impressively real when they’re just having dinner, but when the supernatural elements butt in, they ruin everything. Some of the action is a joy to watch, but other encounters fall flat. The writing is likely to be the stake through the heart that brings the show down. There’s somemoderately clever social commentaryand a few good lines in the dialogue, but the show can’t outrun comparisons to other, often better, works. It’s also dragged down by constantly referencing its source material. The script refuses to let the excellent cast elevate it. So many lines fall flat as a result of desperately reminding the audience that the show is inspired byRomeo and Juliet. That level of self-aware meta-commentary hurts the only way one could enjoy the series.
There are good ideas buried inFirst Kill, but the novelty of its central relationship will only be a selling point for some. Some will undoubtedly find something to love in the earnest romance and family dynamics, but there is a ton of dead weight and bad execution dragging down a potentially good story.
