What's out there?

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2022.  

#18 : Somewhere Boy

Pete Jackson’s devastating drama shared the story of 18-year-old Danny, who was told by his dad, Steve, not to leave his house because of killer monsters. When Steve suddenly dies, Danny steps into the real world for the first time and goes to live with his aunt. It’s an emotionally complex watch, particularly the blurred lines around the abusive father-son relationship. It’s also difficult to keep it together while bingeing – the moment when Danny picks out the suit he wants to wear to the funeral is guaranteed to make you cry. But the most special thing about this series is the relationship between Danny and his awkward cousin Aaron. At first, Aaron writes the new guest off as a weirdo. By the end, their unlikely friendship seems likely to save them both.

I saw the trailers for this and thought "oooh - that looks good" and that was as far as I got with it.  Shame on me!

Well, it's got quite the beginning - and you certainly can't accuse it of overly explaining things, so it's nicely intriguing.  And, as expected, we head both forwards and backwards in time from that point as Danny (Lewis Gribben - who had a small role in Limbo) learns to handle the real world and we learn how he got there.  And, at the same time, his cousin Aaron (Samuel Bottomley - who we previously saw in Ladhood) is also learning how to handle the world as well - yes, his awkwardness is a lot more "normal" but the contrast is interesting.

It's quite interesting because it's reasonably obvious early on that it's not going to progress in the way that the C4 trailers seemed to suggest it would.  But, as it continues through the season, it doesn't make it any easier for you to work out how it's actually going to progress - there's quite a few anxiety-inducing moments where you think it's all going to go horribly wrong, but then things take a bit of a swerve (often going wrong in a different way).

And well, that's probably all I need to tell you - I'd struggle to say loads happens over the eight (half hour) episodes but full-on action is not really the point here.  It's all about the relationships - yes, the situation is "unusual", but the interactions are still very believable.  It also ended well - the final episode didn't do what I was expecting, but it finished on a fine note which is nicely uncertain whilst still being very hopeful.

It's well acted with Danny and Aaron forming the central awkward relationship and both actors convey the awkwardness and the hopeful journey out of it well.  In a similar fashion, young Danny (Samuel McKenna) and Steve, his dad (Rory Keenan) play their parts well in turning Danny into who we see.  Of the remaining cast, I have to call out Sue (Lisa McGrillis) who is Danny's aunt who gets him unceremoniously dumped on her and she has to cope, but she struggles with it all - especially since she has issues with her own family to contend with.  And Lisa portrays a complex role well - I imagine plenty of women related to it well.

It's also well shot, with awkward camera angles being used to represent Danny's somewhat unusual take on the world.  It also has some beautiful scenery - the titles tell me it was "filmed across Wales" and it certainly showcases the country well.

If I had to quibble, I'd say the sound was quite "muddy" at times which feels like it must have been a deliberate decision, but I'm not entirely sure why.  I also would have upped the pace in a couple of areas and introduced a few more plotlines, but I'm being very picky there.  Overall, I enjoyed it - it was a great idea which could have used in any number of ways and I'm happy enough with what they did with it, both in terms of the writing and the acting.  I don't think everyone will enjoy it because of the pacing, but if you like a drama that doesn't spoon-feed you, focuses on relationships and makes you think beyond what you're being shown, then I think this is a goodie.

At time of writing, it's available to watch on All4 - there are plenty worse things you could pick and it's also a quick watch, split into very manageable chunks.

#17 - Pretty damn charming
#19 - A stunningly beautiful watch