***WARNING: This article contains spoilers.***
Last weekend there was a rare occurrence in my weekly routine… I actually had time to binge watch Netflix. It was pretty great. I stumbled upon Netflix’s new show, Alexa and Katie, around its release on March 23. The 13-episode season was finished over the course of two days and I was very impressed. Here’s why:
1) The show highlights the everyday life of a young girl with cancer.
As someone who has experienced the effects on cancer on one of her late best friends, I was very reluctant to see a show that highlighted a day in the life of a cancer patient. Alexa (Paris Berelc), faces cancer with her best friend Katie (Isabel May) by her side.
2) Cancer isn’t pretty, but this show doesn’t show the ugly side.
One of my main critiques of the show was that the plot was very clean of what happens to cancer patients. Yes, there is a scene where some of Alexa’s hair falls out, but it’s not that easy (or hard). Maybe that was the writers’ intentions, where viewers didn’t see the ugly parts, but I still appreciated the effort to show the emotional stress on the family.
3) Ok…. It was also cliche.
Falling in love with your tutor? Cute. Awwwww. Falling in love with your brother’s best friend? (Spoiler alert, they don’t end up together). The best cliche moment, however, was that Alexa beat her cancer. That’s what we all want to see happen.
4) The casting was on point.
I was very happy with the casting choices and how well each actor fit the personality. For instance, Emery Kelly from the pop boy band “Forever in Your Mind” was cast as Lucas, the brother that is obsessed with image. Don’t get me wrong, Lucas still had that caring persona for his sister throughout the season, but a pop boy band lead singer fit the character perfectly.
5) Netflix’s milestone:
The season marked Netflix’s first multi-camera sitcom, so that’s cool.
6) The audience
Maybe I’m just a kid at heart, but the anticipated audience was definitely for the younger generation. Having the normal sitcom “laughing bits” in front of a live audience, and the actors being freshmen in high school, one could easily see how the season is directed for tweens’ teens going into junior high school/ high school.
Regardless, Alexa and Katie was a great show to binge all in one sitting, and great for families with those high school kids looking for a relatable show. It’s basically two girls facing difficulties and trying to fit in, which is a problem a lot of students see their freshman year. The cancer portion is a little bare, but appropriate for it’s audience.
I often found myself tearing up at the minimal sights of Alexa dealing with the cancer, because I was reminded of the same struggles that my late friend faced. Maybe that was the purpose too, to see the relatability of the situations of cancer patients.
If this show were to come back for a second season, I’d be interested to see the direction it goes. Or maybe Netflix needs to have more shows like this one that relates to a portion of its audience.
All in all, props to Netflix for taking on this challenge, Great job.