The Society

Some reviews are so harsh when really, this show exceeded my expectations. Sometimes it gets a bit big for its boots with the political/philosophical commentary but all in all most of the story lines and characters are pretty engaging.

Sure, there are comparisons to Lord of the Flies, and Under the Dome, and they're not wrong. But I binged this series and got quite hooked on the situation, the mysteries, the teenage angst etc. I thought the acting was pretty good. I hated the people I was supposed to hate, reasoned to myself why characters were doing what they were doing... all in all I found it sometimes campy, sometimes thought-provoking and sometimes stupid, but hey-what teen drama isn't the latter? If you think too much about it, there are plot holes, but I sat back and just let the series take me for an eerie ride. Rooting for a second season, or in lieu of that, an episode that tells us if their theories were right.

The concept would have been intriguing. But it's inconceivable how little they seem to worry about what happened and where they are. They party hard and drink all the time, yet don't seem to notice that power and water are coming from nowhere? With occasional references to "going home" they just play politics, stumble through adult problems they seem incapable of handling and live in the usual angst filled teen drama.

A bit soapy but it holds your attention especially after episode three. Like I said in the headline it's like if the show the 100 meets the novel the Lord of the Flies.

It starts slow and I kept watching because of the interesting premise of high school kids trying to figure out how to create an ordered society.

However some items bother me:

1. Where is the electricity coming from? If I was stuck in the town for months I'd just follow the power lines to hopefully find civilization. Plus power stations are manned so without someone monitoring operations blackouts would occur.

2. How are they able to text and call each other? Cell phone towers require maintenance and it's improbable that somehow they can still run for 5+ months with nobody knowing where they are.

3. How did the bus leave the city and yet the city boundaries turn into woodland?

But still, despite those questions I continue watching mainly for the struggle to maintain a society. It's quite interesting how leaders appear and deal with tough decisions. Plus it brings up interesting points in how law really is arbitrary; we like to assume that laws are absolute but we really agree to follow laws.

I will be on the lookout for season 2!