The End of the F***ing World - A Review

Greetings there! Today we are going to talk about one of my favorite TV series, The End of the F***ing World, a show that I believe deserves more attention. Maybe you know that this won some BAFTA Awards and Emmys between 2018 and 2020, but its hype started to fade in the last years. 

So, The End of the F World follows these two teenagers, James and Alyssa, who decided to run away from home and went on a trip that started to become really dangerous, really fast. It belongs to the drama-comedy genre, particularly trying to focus on teen angst and rebellion. Also, it's an adaptation of the comic with the same name by Charles Forsman and this time I haven't read it. Maybe I'll do it one day or not, but you'll never know. Sorry. 

                                                          

Anyway, the thing that I liked about it and why it's one of my favorite shows is that the story itself and all the characters are soooooooo weird (but not in a bad way). They all are so weird and I love that the creators embraced the strangeness. I mean I don't think anything in this would have worked if we weren't focusing on the two messed up teens that are James and Alyssa who don't fit in. That's because the situations in which they end up in are as strange as they are. And this makes me feel evil, but it's kind of hilarious at the same time in what big shit they've thrown themselves in. That really shows us the naivety of James and Alyssa, who, although all their baggage of trauma, are, at the end of the day, just some teenagers. 

Besides that, the dynamic between the two is absolutely excellent. We can feel the attachment between them, no matter how bad their situation is. They are very different from each other, James decided that he is a psychopath because he couldn't feel anything after his mother died and in contrast we have Alyssa who is very rebellious, energetic and allows herself to feel every tiny emotion and lives in the moment. But just their experiences bring them together. Aaand, ooohhh, yeah, the thing the creators did in season 2, where they kind of swapped a bit the roles is so good!! Alyssa being now dull, just a shadow of herself and feeling numb and James being the one who feels emotions and expresses more what he feels... excellent vibe they created there and their character arcs are very well done.   

                                                                   

However, a minor thing that bothered me is that they abused of the pedophile psychopath adult part and, at some point, it got a bit too repetitive. But that didn't stop me for enjoying everything else.

Now, lets talk about the aspect of the series...     

            

I like the way it looks in season 1, with the warmer lighting, not so many deep shadows and overall a more pleasant color palette, representing the innocence and lack of experience in dealing with very serious topics of the duo. And then, the obvious difference of how season 2 looks, with darker shadows, often times some monochromatic color grading and more adult like colors, really representing how the circumstances that James and Alyssa find themselves in, are more dangerous and that the characters are also more mature. I think that's brilliant and it matches the vibe of the show. 

                                          

Now, in the end, I think I'm more attached to it because of the characters and their relationships (especially Alyssa and James's relationship), rather than because of the horror themes. Still, it's an excellent show and I really really really recommend you to watch it, but please be aware that it deals with some very triggering topics.