I've been stricken with a very serious disease. It's a little something called Netflix Fatigue. Over the last few years, Netflix has become the one-stop shop for many people's viewing habits, especially those who are in my age range. I constantly come across people who only watch Netflix, or immediately respond to a TV/film recommendation with "Is it on Netflix?" And no offense to those people who have succumb to the convenience of Netflix -- okay, some offense: broaden your horizons, folks! -- but the way that one streaming service dictates the conversation about what we watch troubles me. It's not just that, Netflix puts out so much content. I'm not a binge-watcher, so the fact that they drop a new show every week with the full season available is too overwhelming to me. If anything, something being on Netflix now makes me less likely to watch it.
If you're suffering from Netflix Fatigue like I am, it would be easy to miss out on something like The Society. I almost did too, were it not for a pitch of the show on The Ringer's The Watch podcast that made it seem like it would be particularly up my alley. For those who aren't in the know, here's the setup: in a well-off Connecticut town called West Ham, the high school's upperclassmen embark on a weeklong out-of-town field trip, but due to dangerous weather conditions that occur overnight while everyone is asleep, the buses must turn around and drop the kids off. They arrive back in town to find that everyone is gone. On top of that, the internet is out and their phones only work when they contact each other. But the worst news of all is that all of the roads and bridges that used to lead out of town are now blocked by dense forest. Cue the dramatic music.
That premise feels algorithmically generated in the way that alot of Netflix shows are. Do you like Lost? Here's another show set in an inescapable place with mysterious properties! Do you like The Leftovers? Here's another show where a large portion of the population has disappeared! Do you like The 100? Here's another show where #HotTeenz have to fend for themselves!
And at first, it's mostly just good for the thrill that comes from being reminded of those better and more original shows. It helps, though, that the episodes are also paced pretty well, which is becoming rarer these days, especially on Netflix. They may be an hour long but they don't feel like it all. The first few episodes present lots of mysteries and twists that keep things moving and leave you desperate to click that "Next Episode" button, but they're not without their flaws. You're going to have to sit through some overwrought teen angst, melodramatic love triangles, and cliche dialogue; which can be especially hard to stomach if you have a low tolerance for that kind of stuff.
But even those early episodes where they're figuring things out have that spark that comes from its thoughtful ideas about starting a community from the ground up. Since these are privileged kids who aren't used to doing things for themselves, they have to stumble around without any framework for how to operate. What are the rules? How do we ration food? How do we conserve water and electricity? The show even gets into the little factors of society building, like the formation of committees to get various tasks done. And in doing so, it explores interesting themes about what we owe to each other, what is the true meaning of community, and how humanity functions when it's not bound to long-held social mores.
At first, it seems like that's not the most fruitful avenue for the show to explore. Here we have this excellent sci-fi mystery setup with so many weird and daring possibilities to take the story, yet the season puts that on the back burner for extended periods to get into the weeds of communal work shifts and city council elections. While watching, there was a moment where it seemed like what I was most interested in was not what the show was most interested in. But then it deepens and shows you that the inner-workings of the town of New Ham is the core of the series. When it focuses on the drama of township, it forces its characters into gripping moral quandaries. Watching these characters wrestle with tough choices is not only compelling, it's a way to make them more complicated than any expository monologue could.
I noticed something interesting after a few episodes while looking at the credits: almost all of the writing staff consists of women. And sure enough, by the end of the season, I counted only one other man besides showrunner Christopher Keyser to have a writing credit. I only mention that because it's something that shines through in the writing, where the female characters are often the most complex and are given all the tiny moments of grace. In particular, there's Allie (played by Kathryn Newton), who rises as the de facto leader of the town and the one who has the most crises of morality throughout the season. The Society's portrait of Allie never lands on her being wholly good or bad. She aims to do the best for everyone but sometimes falters, making rash and morally questionable decisions. The series goes to some dark, disturbing places but it always feels earned because it comes back to the burden that she has to bear as its grounding force.
The writing staff should also be credited for depicting an abusive relationship that doesn't lean heavily on showing violence against the woman involved. It shows one initial act and then largely lets the dynamic play out in the emotional and psychological aftermath of the things we don't see (and don't need to due how well the actors convey the things that are shown). Not only does it avoid becoming lurid, it emerges as one of the most gripping plotlines of the entire season.
The Society reveals those kind of ambitions more and more over the course of its first season. While it may not quite be at the level of a Deadwood or Orange is the New Black, there's an admirable sprawl to the ensemble, with over two dozen named characters by the end of its initial ten episodes. Like other shows with such a deep roster, it sometimes runs into trouble managing it all: certain characters completely disappear for stretches of episodes, while others never get as fleshed out as they need to be in order to have their motivations work. And in trying to constantly ratchet up tension, the writers occasionally opt for some goofy routes -- those who have watched the series will know what I'm talking about if I just shout "THE PIE!!!" But even with those kinks, it's simply refreshing to watch a show juggle this dense tangle of plot and character and mostly pull it off.
It's hard to tell just how much of an impact The Society has had so far. There are only a handful of reviews on Metacritic and it doesn't seem to have much buzz on my Twitter timeline. This is the problem with the Netflix glut of content. There are so many options that sometimes great shows aren't able to break through. This feels like the kind of series that could have been a sensation in a different marketplace. Regardless, I'm happy that it made its way into my field of vision. Season two can't come soon enough.
