This review may contain spoilers
A decent series with forced character growth
If you're craving a fast paced, messy drama fix, this show is a watchable guilty pleasure but character development across the cast is largely half-baked.Jack learns nothing, taking zero accountability.
Despite being credited as main cast, arnold and tua suffer from the exact same issue, a total lack of genuine character growth. They aren't written with their own motivations or earned arcs, they exist strictly as plot catalysts to stir up drama for everyone else.
Raffy only stops sabotaging dean out of sheer exhaustion and defeat, giving up once he realizes jack will only ever see him as dean's replacement. Instead of genuinely growing up, he retreats back to rome offering a casual apology and winning him back with a public confession rather than doing any real internal work.
Rome 'choosing himself' and raffy chasing him happen at the exact same time, turning what should have been rome's moment of independence into an instant surrender.
Only dean gets growth but it feels completely abrupt. Once he ends up entirely alone, he suddenly apologizes to raffy, reconciles with jack, lets jack go, and even apologizes to tua.
The relationship dynamics are hit or miss across the board. Romeraffy were compelling before the misunderstanding whereas jackdean only became engaging after the misunderstanding. Arnoldtua's arc was wildly rushed moving from tua erratically stabbing a mannequin and insulting his friend over a hug picture straight into an unearned, instant reunion.
Terrible pacing ruined the show's momentum. Jackdean were given far too much screen time early on, rendering their story completely boring through overexposure. Clearing out their drama around episode 6 or 7 would have fixed the structure, giving arnoldtua and romeraffy the space they actually needed for a natural, well paced reconciliation instead of a rushed resolution
Overall the series is worth a one time watch for its compelling drama even if the writing stumbles along the way.
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