Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
Fun fact: If you go to the AboutTHAT app/website at Bayview High, you’ll find all sorts of drama.
Photos that get half the basketball team expelled are leaked here. Couples discover who their significant others really are. And it’s the one-stop-shop to find out the “who’s who of addicts, anorexics and alcoholics.”
OK, so maybe it’s not fun, but it is a fact.
Here’s another one: Simon Kelleher is the purveyor of AboutTHAT. He’s been exploiting the secrets of his classmates for years—seemingly because he’s tired of “privileged people” getting away with breaking the rules because of their rich parents.
It’s actually yet another pretty well-known fact that most people hate Simon. But how many of those people would be willing to kill him?
The Breakfast Club Murder Mystery
On the first day of school, Simon landed in detention along with four other classmates. But within minutes, the boy was gasping for breath on the floor. Later that day, he died in the hospital.
At first, everyone suspected that Simon’s death was an accident. His classmates tried to resuscitate him. They called 911 and sought out the school nurse. They even tried to find an EpiPen for the suffocating lad. But to no avail. Simon died in the hospital later that same day.
But within 24 hours, everyone’s phones begin buzzing with another alert from AboutTHAT. An anonymous user announced that he or she plotted and executed Simon’s murder.
Now, police are investigating. And at the top of their suspect list are the four students who attended detention with the deceased—all who had a motive to off the gossipmongering recluse.
Was it Bronwyn, the nerd? Only Simon stood a chance of beating her out for valedictorian. And it’s very likely he discovered that she cheated on an exam, which would not only affect her class ranking but her college applications as well.
Perhaps Nate, the rebel, is the culprit. He’s on probation after getting caught selling drugs. And even though one more violation will land him back in juvie, he’s been dealing on the down-low, handing out a variety of paraphernalia to local college students.
Maybe Cooper, the jock, did it. His family moved across the country to increase his chances of getting a baseball scholarship. But there’s rumors that he’s used performance-enhancing drugs. And if recruiters discover he’s gay, that could put a black mark on his record as well. (Or maybe Simon discovered something about his mysterious sealed criminal record?)
But it’s also possible Addy, the beauty, is the mastermind behind Simon’s death. After all, she was the only person in detention who didn’t try to help Simon when he went into anaphylactic shock. Moreover, she cheated on her own boyfriend with her best friend’s boyfriend, who also happens to be her boyfriend’s best friend.
Privacy and Propriety Are Things of the Past
This TV-MA show could be renamed “The Seven Deadly Sins”—you know, if that title wasn’t already taken—because it has all of them.
Wrath? Check. It takes quite a bit of hatred to end the life of a fellow student. We also see multiple fights break out.
Envy? Oh yeah. In fact, jealous boyfriends are usually the ones throwing their fists in those fights.
Lust? Why do you think those boyfriends are jealous to begin with? Nearly everyone on this show is having sex with someone, and they don’t mind talking about it. We also see a lot of skin. (Seriously, does Bayview not have a dress code?) Couples, including same-sex pairings, make out in the lunchroom and hallways and probably other places as well. And there’s at least one effeminate male character who appears to be trans.
Gluttony? I can only assume since many young people use drugs, all of which are illegal.
Greed? Again I ask, why do you think people are dealing drugs? They want money.
Sloth? Maybe not by the characters, but certainly by the creators. Because this show is full of foul language that certainly wouldn’t have flown at my high school. Which makes the writing just feel lazy.
And pride? Well, that’s pretty much the primary motive for all four of our suspects. They’ve all lied to protect their public images.
So let’s just wrap this up. One of these kids is lying about their involvement in Simon’s death. The show’s title tells us that much. But I won’t lie to you. In order to find out who, you’ll have to sift through a lot of unsavory behavior, with virtually zero payout in terms of positive messages.
After a student dies from an allergic reaction, four of his classmates become suspects due to the secrets he was threatening to expose.
Teenagers don’t have sex onscreen, but they talk about it. And we do see multiple couples (including same-sex pairings) making out, removing clothes and lying in bed together covered by sheets. Several teenage couples in swimsuits sit in each other’s laps in a hot tub. Female characters wear revealing outfits. Boys from a rival high school run around the school campus in nothing but jock straps and we see their rear-ends. People talk about male and female body parts. We see a boy who appears to be trans. Addy’s mom critiques her daughter’s outfit choice, implying that Addy’s boyfriend will cheat on her if she isn’t “sexy” enough. A girl protests after seeing her parents kiss, and her dad says the affection is why she exists.
Simon goes into anaphylactic shock after being exposed to peanut oil. His classmates panic, searching for an EpiPen but failing to find one. They administer CPR and paramedics eventually wheel the boy out on a gurney. We later learn he died, and someone anonymously confesses to murdering him.
Several people get into fistfights. We hear that a girl was expelled from her last school for stabbing a teacher. Someone eggs the school.
Someone uses cocaine. We see other people dealing drugs. Teenagers drink alcohol. An intoxicated boy vomits. We hear about people who suffer from anorexia and see a girl weighing herself in her underwear.
Bronwyn is disrespectful towards her teacher after receiving detention (which she doesn’t believe she deserves). And she complains when the teacher makes her use paper instead of her laptop for an assignment, quoting environmental reasons. (The teacher counters that laptops aren’t allowed in detention because students use them to surf the web instead.) Bronwyn also breaks her parents’ rule about no boys in the house, asking a boy to sneak out the window so she won’t get into trouble.
Several someones steal Simon’s laptop. People gossip, spread rumors and threaten each other. We hear multiple uses of the f-word and s-word, as well as “a–,” “a–hole,” “d–n,” “d—k,” “h—,” and “skank.” We also hear misuses of God’s name.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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