The End of the F**king World - Season 1 Review
This review of Season 1 of The End of the F**king World is spoiler-free!
Well, that was most certainly different. I watch a lot of content on a daily basis, so often times I don't know what I'm really getting into. When I first put F**cking World on my list for things to check into I actually thought it was a zombie show. The cover art and the name of the show manage to just give off that vibe. So coming off the heels of Ash vs. Evil Dead I was a bit skeptical about how it would match up, but fortunately, I got a completely different show than what I anticipated. F**king World manages to take an interesting premise in a boy who is has a bit... different so to speak. Overall, what this show brings to the table is something we don't often see tackled, and I'm excited to spend some time talking about it.
The premise of the show is fairly simple. The show is focused are the psyche of a teenage boy named James. Growing up he believed he was a psychopath, going as far as to kill small animals and animals in general. He also doesn't have any true sense of humor. After years of killing those smaller creatures, he decides that he wants to tackle something bigger: a human. Along the way, he meets another person who wants to get away in Alyssa, another student at his school. At first, his goal is simply to lead her on and kill her, but emotions come into play and he doesn't know how to handle these changes in the plan. F**cking World's story is excellent and manages to really do flesh out the relationship between these two people. As they start their journey they don't really trust each other on the level they want to, but through the course of the season, you really get invested in their connection to one another.
As for discussion characters, it really comes down to just Alyssa (Jessica Barden) and James (Alex Lawther). Having spoken about James quite a bit so far, I'll leave him for last. Alyssa doesn't have the same issues in a mental capacity that James does but she is more worried about where they're going and their plan. She immediately falls for James in that type of young love way that we have all known at one point or another. Her emotions are a bit rawer, and her story is really what drives them through the show as to what the end goal is. Jessica plays Alyssa extremely well, as there are points where we get into the heads of characters and her thoughts are always fascinating in a sense.
James, on the other hand, is the beating heart of the show. Having the thoughts of a psychotic maniac, he constantly is thinking about death and how to plan out the killing, but slowly his thoughts trickle towards things he didn't anticipate. He starts to actually care about things which scare him, and he is afraid to speak out on these emotions. Lawther plays James' darker elements so well, and I loved his portrayal overall. James is the best character in the show as a whole, and I was so conflicted caring about him. He is such a bottle of mixed emotions that you never really understand what you're going to get from him. What happens in the first few episodes involving him also manages to take the character in an entirely new direction that I was absolutely thrilled about.
F**king World carries a story that many people I'm sure won't necessarily enjoy. The reality is that a story focused on the psyche of someone who classifies themselves as a psychopath and the journey he takes may turn some off. The truth of it though is watching the adventure of James and Alyssa through the world and rebelling against those around them, and seeing the change in emotions with the characters and how what has happened to them brings them closer makes it all the better. It could be thought of that this story fits that of many people who are trying to find their place because Alyssa and James in a sense are both doing the same. Check out The End of the F**king World on Netflix, it's only 8 half-hour episodes, that can't be beaten!
