Knokke Off

As Episode 1 of "High Tides" (2023 release from Belgium; 10 episodes raging from 31 to 38 min each; original title "Knokke Off") opens, we are introduced to Alex and Louise, a young couple spending the summer in the Belgian beach resort town called Knokke. Alex and Louise are the children of rich families, and enjoy living the high life with their friends. In a parallel story, Daan and his mom arrive at a camping site in Cadzand, just on the other side of the nearby border between Belgium and the Netherlands. Daan has a summer job at a beach resort in Knokke... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this mini-series is nothing short of a soap opera, Belgian style. There are LOTS of characters to take in during the initial episodes, but by episode 3 or 4, we get a clear idea as to what is going on: a girl (Louise) torn between 2 guys (Alex and Daan) is at the core of this, with tons of side stories along the way. This is in essence the Belgian equivalent of a soap set in, say, West Palm Beach, FL. Alex surely is one of the most unlikable TV characters in a long, long time. Louise is played by Belgian sensation Pommelien Thijs, now 22 yo. The best that I can compare this to is that she is the Belgian equivalent of Britney Spears (Thijs has a long track record as a child actress and is also a successful singer). The setting in Knokke as seen in this mini-series is not entirely on point, as much of the mini-series is set in the neighborhoods of "Zoute" and "Zwin" ( as opposed to, say, "Albertstrand" or "Duinbergen"). Bottom line: if you are familiar with Knokke, you will absolutely enjoy this mini-series. Please don't overthink it, just watch and enjoy what I found to be a guilty pleasure in the best possible way. (I grew up in Flanders, Belgium, and spent all my summers as a youth in and around Knokke-Duinbergen.) As for the title of this mini-series: there isn't a single mention of "High Tides" anywhere, this is simply called "Knokke Off", an obvious wordplay on "Knock Off".

"Knokke Off" premiered on Belgian TV earlier this year, to massive ratings. It also aired on Netflix in the Netherlands, to equal blockbuster ratings. It started streaming on Netflix here in the US recently as well, and Netflix recommended it to me based on my viewing habits. Thanks Netflix! If you are in the mood for a decadent European soap opera that is nothing short of a guilty pleasure, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

*UPDATE March 23, 2025* After the massive success of Season 1, it was not a question of weather a Season 2 would follow, but when. Season 2 originally aired in Belgium starting in December 2024, and once again had massive ratings. Season 2 was released on Netflix this weekend, and I binged all 8 episodes in 2 evenings (Friday night and Saturday night. While it is still quite enjoyable, it is simply not as good as Season 1. One giveaway is that there are only 8 episodes (as opposed to 10 in Season 1), and it seems at times the production team had trouble even filling just 8 episodes. Season 2 is foremost noticeably less Knokke-centric than Season 1. All the main characters from Season 1 are back, most importantly Flemish singer-actress Pommelien Thijs. In the 18+ months since appearing in Season 1, she scored several no. 1 hit singles and she is now certifiably one of THE biggest stars in Belgium, period (she is still only 24 as we speak). And lest anyone was wondering: yes, a Season 3 already has been greenlighted by VRT (the Flemish tv station where Knokke Off was originated). Look for that in, I'm guessing, mid-to-late 2026.

The problem with Knokke Off (High Tides) season 2 is that too little is continued from season 1. New characters are more focused than some of the youths (Matti, Victor and Margaux), despite there are some unresolved issues among those three in this season which would have been a lot more interesting to watch being dwelled into, than scenes of Tennis being played, or paint thrown around.

The cruelty and carelessness of the characters also seems too over the top to be believable. Viviane de Muynck has the matriarch role down to the teeth the way she plays it. Unfortunately though the writers have not dedicated as much time researching law issues as coming up with scenes to put Willem de Schryver's naked butt on display, as a consequence a rather moronic situation occur, where apparantly the CEO of a company don't have the faintest idea who the major, and controlling, shareholder of the company is.

There also are some episodes where too many stages have been ommitted for the remaining scenes to correspond well to each other. Must be careful not to spoil too much, but what happen is in one scene a character angrily hit another - next we see them they are best of friends, but how that happened we don't get to see. In the first season there also was revealed one of the characters had a secret gay lover. That gay lover is apparently gone, and now replaced with another. Over 8 episodes we see the two together as a couple twice, once in a car, and once under a duvet in a bed.

Extending length of episodes, or moving focus from the new characters and developments to the core youth, would have improved both storylines and character development.

Season 2 is not bad, it is just not the quality the cast could have delivered, had the storylines and character developments been as solid as many of them are. Kes Bakker as Matti is very convincing, pity he hasn't got more scenes - especially interactions with Victor, Margaux and Alex. Dries Vanhegen as John is a character that could have become a father figure for Alex, similar to Jaques with Daen in the first season. But unfortunately Willem de Schryver and Dries Vanhegen have too few, and too different, scenes together to show such a development. Which makes John's presence in one scene in particular hard to understand.

Again the problem is scenes not corresponding well with each other, because those develments that could have bridged the two scenes, have been completely ommitted.

I had hoped season 2 would have brought more nuance, and help us viewers better understand and relate to key characters. That didn't happen, they are the same as they were in season 1. There has been announced a third and final season. Maybe they will develop and grow more emotionally in that one? Fingers crossed.

If you like shows like Gossip girl, Skam and The OC, this is for you. This is kind of like the European version of gossip girl. There's extremely rich kids, and the poor outsider. I must say that some of the storylines got a bit boring, But then something exciting happened. The camera quality was amazing. One of the best things was the cast, cuz every character is hot. The acting from Alex and Louise is also extremely good for this type of series. There were a few scenes that were a bit inappropriate, but nothing extreme. The show ended with a big cliffhanger. Hopefully the new season comes soon.

This series really is no more than a soap opera. It's full of the typical clichés you would see in any youth series. I won't spoil the storylines, but you can think of the most common themes in any soap opera or youth series and put them together. Anyway, as you can tell.. it wasn't for me and I don't think it's the quality content some claim it to be. There was no originality and most of the times it was very predictable.

But apparently it ticks all the boxes for teenagers/young adults: Hot guys, hot girls, sex, drugs, a girl struggling with her disorder, more sex, an evil father, rich people and a not so rich person... etc. Etc.

So, why did I finish it? There was one mystery that I was curious about, so I wanted to know what happend, so there's that. And the entire series feels like eye-candy, so.. when you've got nothing better to do you keep watching for the hot actors and locations.

Some positives: Beauuutiful locations! And the acting was above average. Especially Alexander and Louise.

Being Belgian, I had received several notifications about 'Knokke off' (original title) so I ultimately decided to give it a shot with ep1.

I was thoroughly surprised...good acting, good camera work and a nice story based more or less on real life (it is well known here in Belgium the seaside city of 'Knokke' indeed has many rich posh people).

So yea, I binged the show in 2 evenings....it is well written (thanks to Luc Wyns), good character.development.

I did not like the last episode as everything got a bit too rushed....and apparently a semi-open ending (which I hate) is popular nowadays.