4
10
1
2
This review may contain spoilers
power and control
Overall: instead of love, I felt a character's obsession stemmed from power and control (i.e. abuse). Note that the series and my review may have triggering content. 12 episodes about 40 minutes each. I have not read the book this series is based on, I have watched the two one hour movies from 2016 (A Round Trip to Love) and I tried to review the series based on its own merits.
Content Warnings: rape multiple times*, sexual assault/non con kissing/non con touching, intimate partner abuse and violence including choking, internal and external homophobia, deaths, grief, drugging, held against will, attempted suicide?, held against will, attempted murder, blood, punches, mental health struggles, I might be missing some content warnings
*episode 2 felt more like internalized homophobia, episode 4 was rape (it's not just fight or flight, there is also freeze, flop and friend and a person's brain can choose automatically how to respond https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/tools-for-victims-and-survivors/understanding-your-response/
and episode 9/10 (not sure if it was a flashback) was also rape)
What I Liked
- acting
- sweet moments
- I did appreciate the apology in episode 2
- not a cliched woman character
Room For Improvement
- the wealthy/powerful aggressive pursuer and the not wealthy/not powerful reluctant pursuee dynamic didn't work for me because the pursuee felt more like an abuse victim most of the time
- characters were a bit stupid to realize that there could have been family interference
- after what happened in episode 9 and the first half of episode 10 it was unrealistic how everything was fine and dandy between them
- him having bipolar disorder seemed like a cop out and adds to mental health disorder stereotypes
Question: I'm not sure when this is supposed to take place. I saw landlines but also iPhones (first created in 2007). If it's set a couple decades ago, then the other students freaking out at school would make a bit more sense because I can't see that happening now.
Content Warnings: rape multiple times*, sexual assault/non con kissing/non con touching, intimate partner abuse and violence including choking, internal and external homophobia, deaths, grief, drugging, held against will, attempted suicide?, held against will, attempted murder, blood, punches, mental health struggles, I might be missing some content warnings
*episode 2 felt more like internalized homophobia, episode 4 was rape (it's not just fight or flight, there is also freeze, flop and friend and a person's brain can choose automatically how to respond https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/tools-for-victims-and-survivors/understanding-your-response/
and episode 9/10 (not sure if it was a flashback) was also rape)
What I Liked
- acting
- sweet moments
- I did appreciate the apology in episode 2
- not a cliched woman character
Room For Improvement
- the wealthy/powerful aggressive pursuer and the not wealthy/not powerful reluctant pursuee dynamic didn't work for me because the pursuee felt more like an abuse victim most of the time
- characters were a bit stupid to realize that there could have been family interference
- after what happened in episode 9 and the first half of episode 10 it was unrealistic how everything was fine and dandy between them
- him having bipolar disorder seemed like a cop out and adds to mental health disorder stereotypes
Question: I'm not sure when this is supposed to take place. I saw landlines but also iPhones (first created in 2007). If it's set a couple decades ago, then the other students freaking out at school would make a bit more sense because I can't see that happening now.
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