Crime
Adolescence
In Netflix’s Adolescence, 13-year-old Jamie Miller is accused of a violent murder. And the motive behind this alleged crime haunts the people around him.
The Los Angeles Waves are the greatest basketball franchise in the history of the game. So says Isla Gordon, middle child of the illustrious Gordon family, who owns the team.
But lately, the team hasn’t been living up to its name. The highest-paid player, Travis Bugg, embarrasses them with foul-mouthed interviews off-court and poor leadership on-court. All-star Marcus Winfield still plays well, but he’s mentally tapped out from the franchise otherwise.
So when Waves President Cam Gordon (Isla’s eldest brother) is forced to step down because of a drug problem, it falls to the rest of the family to make some changes.
Next eldest, Ness, is the only Gordon who can actually play the sport. In fact, his dad even drafted him for half a season. But then he got demoted to a league in the Philippines, which ended in jail after Ness tried to bribe a club bouncer with Ecstasy. He is the Waves’ general manager now, but he’s certainly not smart enough to run the whole shebang.
Isla’s younger half-brother Sandy Gordon is smart, driven and good with numbers. That’s why he’s Chief Financial Officer for the organization. But he knows nothing about the game itself and wouldn’t even know where to begin recruiting new players.
So, the presidency falls to Isla. It’s actually a pretty good choice. Although she’s been the “Coordinator of Charitable Endeavors” the last several years, Isla loves basketball and actually knows quite a bit about the sport and the business behind it. But since her dad was “old-school” (read sexist), he never gave her a shot. So she acted out, partying it up until she hit rock bottom. Then, after her dad died, Cam gave her the charity position to restore some of her dignity and family honor.
Now, Cam is counting on Isla to run point. But with problematic players, angry sponsors and unruly brothers—including a newly discovered other half-brother, Jackie Moreno—Isla’s got her work cut out for her.
Netflix’s Running Point, starring Kate Hudson, is somewhat based on the life of Jeanie Buss, president of the Los Angeles Lakers, who, like Isla, had to prove herself as the female leader of a male-dominated franchise after her father passed away, states The Hollywood Reporter.
The show sort of gives off Ted Lasso vibes. But instead of being brought together by a wholesome coach from Texas, the Waves are united by a party-girl-turned-girlboss. That isn’t to say that Kate Hudson isn’t portraying a strong lead, just that her character isn’t nearly as endearing as Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso.
And the show itself has just as many problems as Ted Lasso, maybe even more. We see a couple of sex scenes, people take their clothes off, the Gordon’s dad was involved in multiple extramarital affairs, Sandy Gordon is in a same-sex relationship, and Isla lives with her fiancé, whom she’s been engaged to for three years.
Language is also foul; players are often crass; and more than one character makes some really derogatory, sexist remarks. Not to mention the abundant drug use of Cam Gordon, which acts as the show’s inciting incident.
Hudson says the show is more family comedy than rom-com, but most families are probably gonna want to steer clear of this TV-MA rated series.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When Isla’s brother steps down from running their family’s basketball franchise, he taps inexperienced but passionate Isla to take his place.
Isla admits she acted out because she was overlooked by her dad. We see her posing for Playboy with basketballs covering her chest and stumbling drunkenly outside a club in a revealing dress. She also says she was married for 20 days to a celebrity.
Players discuss whether they’d like to have sex with Isla. They talk crudely about her and other women’s bodies. One guy even says he can’t take her seriously because he’s seen pictures of her bare breasts online. The camera focuses on a man’s bare chest as he exercises, and Isla ogles him a bit. Isla says that one of her brothers is good looking, admitting that it’s weird for her to say so. Ness tries to set up Sandy up with another man, telling Sandy that he doesn’t need to hide his “gay lifestyle.” Isla’s best friend, Ali, jokingly says she wants to have sex with Isla. A man apologizes to Isla after accidentally making a sexual implication. We learn Isla’s dad had a child through an extramarital affair.
Isla punches the glass of a popcorn machine, breaking it and injuring her hand. Two people cause a man pain when they accidentally jab his injuries. Isla is knocked over by players during a game, cutting her eyebrow. A basketball player calls himself “John Wilkes Booth” in a rap because he’s a “shooter.” Later, he admits he doesn’t understand the reference and used it because Google said it rhymed. A man kicks over a chair in anger. Someone else says he is late because somebody died on his bus.
Cam smokes from a crack pipe while driving recklessly. He crashes his vehicle as a result. (We hear he actually hit a family of tourists. But nobody died, and the family received financial compensation to keep quiet.) Later, bandaged in the hospital, Cam confesses that he is an alcoholic and addicted to crack and cocaine. He steps down as the Waves’ president and resolves to attend rehab (though this is just to protect his image, not because he actually wants to get better).
People try to compare addiction to AIDS or cancer. Folks spray champagne and smoke cigars after a victory.
We hear that Ness was arrested for trying to bribe a club bouncer with Ecstasy. He’s escorted through a foreign prison with a bag over his head. And upon his return to the States (courtesy of his dad’s powerful friends), he has some cuts on his face.
Isla’s dad had a sexist attitude. He never hired her to work for the Waves, even though she knew more about basketball than any of her brothers. Her brothers similarly ignore her advice after their dad passes away. And when Isla takes over for Cam, it seems he might have hired her to be a figurehead while Ness and Sandy run the show.
Isla is told that as a woman, she won’t be able to make mistakes in her new, powerful role. People will expect her to be perfect from the get-go. And sure enough, critics insult her simply because she’s a woman in a male-dominated franchise.
Isla hugs a child at a charity event, later noting that the kid gave her COVID. A man lies to his children about how he got injured, blaming it on somebody else. People are disrespectful to Isla. We’re told a man is Buddhist, and we see him meditating.
There are 20 uses of the f-word and 10 of the s-word. We also hear multiple uses of “a–,” “a–hole,” “b–tard,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “d–k,” “h—” and “p-ss.” God’s name is abused nine times, once paired with “d–mit.” Jesus’ name is abused another five times. A woman is described as someone who “swears a lot.”
A man’s coworkers try to cheer him up after his mom passes away.
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.
In Netflix’s Adolescence, 13-year-old Jamie Miller is accused of a violent murder. And the motive behind this alleged crime haunts the people around him.
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