Episode #1.2

The second episode of Adolescence makes a bold move and decides not to feature Jamie at all. Instead we follow DI Bascombe and DS Frank as they go around Jamie's school. The school is in absolute shambles and is a great depiction of school life in 2025. It's pandemonium and anything but learning is taking place in the school. The teachers and students are rowdy and hate each other. Adam was a cool addition to the story with his family relation to Bascombe and he managed to provide the officers with online stuff like the 80/20 rule. Unfortunately, Jade was an awful character and she was truly unwatchable.

Simply devastating-the cold, unflinching way "Adolescence" looks at the weight of youth violence, at society's countless failures to understand its own young people, and at the silent horror that hides in the banalities of everyday life. If the first episode was a claustrophobic spiral into the institutional hell of a police station, this one shifts to another equally suffocating space: school. The entire episode unfolds within classrooms, hallways, stairwells, and courtyards, with the camera dragging itself along without cuts, turning the act of watching into something immersive and relentless. If there's a central thesis here, it's that hell doesn't need fire-all it takes is a set of rules, blue-painted walls, and a bunch of teenagers trapped in their own chaos, and boom: you've got hell.

The biggest triumph of the episode is its young cast, and what a cast!! Owen Cooper was already incredible as Jamie in the first episode, but here, the focus shifts to the other students, delivering a succession of natural (and utterly gut-wrenching) performances. Fatima Bojang, as Jade, completely steals the show with a performance dripping with pure rage, a grief that doesn't know how to be sad because it can only be furious. She's not written to be likable or immediately understood-on the contrary, everything about her radiates discomfort and the reckless impulsiveness of bottomless pain. Her emotional collapse builds up to two brutal moments: first, when she violently attacks Ryan without hesitation; and then, when she wanders into the street, on the verge of throwing her life away because, deep down, she already feels like she has nothing left. It's raw, it's unforgiving, and Bojang plays it with a truthfulness that only makes it harder to watch.

And speaking of Ryan, Kaine Davis delivers something just as impressive, but in a completely different way. If Jade is all fire and rage, Ryan is the kind of kid who hides behind sarcasm-the type who always smirks and cracks jokes because that's safe, that's comfortable. But his mask slips the second he realizes that what he thought was just a joke-giving Jamie a knife to "scare" Katie-turned into something unimaginable. When everything falls apart, he bolts. Literally jumps out of a window and runs from the cops. You can tell he's not a monster, but he's not innocent either, and the show is smart enough not to reduce anyone to easy archetypes.

And then there's one of the most disturbing aspects of the episode: the way it seamlessly weaves in the influence of digital culture and online misogyny on young minds. Adam's revelation that Jamie might have been motivated by being called an "incel" by Katie completely reframes the entire case. It wasn't romantic obsession. It wasn't personal revenge. It was a reaction to an attack on his ego, a moment of social humiliation. That tiny detail changes everything-this wasn't just a teenage murder, it was a symptom of something much bigger. A culture of male resentment, fed by forums and social media, teaching boys to see the world through a paranoid lens of hatred toward women. Bascombe's skeptical reaction to the idea that a simple emoji could've been the trigger for a murder mirrors how a lot of people react to this phenomenon. But the script deserves credit for not treating it like some absurd conspiracy-it's real, and "Adolescence" tackles it with chilling clarity.

All of this works so well because the episode's structure reinforces that overwhelming sense of entrapment. The one-take approach proves itself again-not as some flashy technical gimmick, but as a way to make us feel the weight of time and space. Like the police station in the first episode, the school isn't just a setting-it's a mechanism of control. The endless hallways, the exhausted teachers, the students lost in their own emotional bubbles-it all reinforces the idea that adolescence is a phase where you have almost no control over anything, where every action is dictated by a larger system, be it institutional or social. Frank's comment that "all a teenager needs is something that makes them feel good about themselves" carries a bitter weight. Because in the world of "Adolescence", that "something" could be anything: a friend group, a hobby, a teacher who actually gives a damn. Or it could be rage. It could be the toxic ideology of an influencer who tells you the world is against you. That the earth is flat. It could be a knife.

At the end of the episode, the camera lingers on one final image: Eddie standing in front of the makeshift memorial for Katie, staring at the spot where she was murdered, his face aged with years of exhaustion, even though it's only been two days. Stephen Graham's performance continues to be one of the show's emotional anchors, and this final moment is devastating. He doesn't need to say anything-his expression alone carries the full weight of everything that's been lost. And that's the real gut punch of "Adolescence": beyond the tragedy of the crime, there's an even deeper sadness-a world where adults don't know how to save their children from themselves.

This show has absolutely no fear of tackling dark, heavy, uncomfortable truths, and saying, loud and clear, that this is how the world works. And the scariest part? Nothing here is exaggerated. Nothing is implausible. This is exactly what we're living through. Raw. Unfiltered. And without a single cut.

DI Bascombe and DS Frank visit Jamie's school to speak to his fellow pupils and friends, and to try and find the murder weapon. Bascombe finds a wall of silence, but his son Adam offers a strong, but uncomfortable lead.

It's just as shocking as the first episode, gritty and eye opening, if you're like me, it's a while since you went to school, John Major would have been Prime Minister, things have really changed, these days of incels and Andrew Tate, it's bleak.

I get the impression that there's a very strong amount of realism here, I'm glad I grew up when I did, the lives of young people now, social media etc, I can't imagine what it must be like.

Who'd want to be a teacher, seeing the way that kids speak to them, it's like a total societal breakdown.

The acting and flow of it continues to impress, it's just so natural, so organic. It really is gripping drama.

9/10.

Not as great as the first episode, but the acting is still extremely good. The plot doesn't seem quite as natural as in episode 1, a bit more like a theatrical one, but it's still really interesting, what's being said here and how the transitions are handled. I particularly liked how the youth spirit is captured. From the obsessive relationship with smartphones, the internet, and sexuality to group dynamics, bullying, and rash behavior. If the series continues like this, it could become one of my favorites. Because it deals so well with social issues, young people, the legal system, and the characters. But also because it's so nice and short.

The makers of Adolescence wanted to expand the one shot drama technique. Be more creative. If the first episode moved to different locations.

The second episode stayed mainly at the school but it is a large school. The camera goes from outside to inside the classroom. The various schoolblocks, up and down the stairs, to the playground and to the sportsground.

Eventually there is a chase scene before the camera is placed on the drone for an emotional finale.

Set three days after the murder of Katie Leonard and the arrest of Jamie Miller.

DI Bascombe is looking for the murder weapon. As well as the reason as to why Jamie killed Katie. Maybe talking to his school friends would help Bascombe find some answers.

One lad called Ryan proves evasive, like he has something to hide.

It is Bascombe's own son, a pupil at the school who sheds some lights about hidden meanings in text messages.

I did thing the show would had done better to tackle misogyny in society rather than incel culture which is a part of it. It can after the opposite effect of glorifying certain people in the subculture.

Once again it is the drama that shines. Even the quieter moments. The police recognise the school is a wreck. Even the teachers do not want to be there.

There is a bravado in the one shot technique. The interior shots in the classroom are still too dark such as when DI Bascombe talks to his son.

It is better with the natural light in the outdoor scenes. The foot chase scene looked to be slow. The transfer to the drone was seamless.