Fast Times in Downtown Brooklyn
Netflix’s controversial Grand Army is set in the halls of a New York high school. Plus: Showtime’s The Good Lord Bird,
starring Ethan Hawke.
THIS TEEN DRAMA
opens with Brooklyn high schooler Joey (Odessa A’zion, magnetic) reaching inside a female classmate’s body to retrieve a used condom left by a careless boyfriend. Storylines involve, among other things, rape, drug use, sexual identity, and racism. Yet the smart, gripping Grand Army never feels as aggro or pleased with itself as other teen shows like Euphoria and 13 Reasons Why.
Grand Army is refreshingly buttoned-down in its exploration of the lives of its five main characters: firecracker Joey, a vocal feminist who owns her sexuality; Dominique (Odley Jean), constantly hustling to keep her impoverished family afloat; Sid (Amir Bageria), a star swimmer debating whether to reveal his deepest secret; Leila (Amalia Yoo), who is Chinese-born, raised by adoptive Jewish parents, and feels like she fits in nowhere; and Jayson (Maliq Johnson), who has to grow up fast when his antics land him in trouble.
Dark, scary things happen to these kids — the sexualassault story is as blunt and harrowing as that material gets — but in ways that also feel true to them and their complicated circumstances. At press time, controversy broke surrounding the writers’ room, with accusations of racial discrimination, exploitation, and abuse by creator Katie Cappiello. If true, it’s an unfortunate stain on a show that, in its best moments, evokes the genre’s sensitive standard-bearer, My So-Called Life.
A.S.