High School

Basically, what the title says. I've been a T&S fan since "If It Was You" era (I'm getting old). I read the book, of course. I honestly didn't have super high expectations of the show and was just gonna watch.

I gotta say, even if you're not a T&S fan, it's great and worth watching. It's a very under-done snapshot of a certain time, place, and experience in life (growing up gay in the 90s). The pacing is good, the music and style references are on point, and the acting across the board is a solid A- (the twins can be a little awkward and stilted at times but I forgive them as this is their first foray into acting, ever. They're doing great).

My mark of a good TV show is if I watch it without any other distractions and if I look forward to it every week, and I gotta say, this show hits that mark perfectly. I've been a Tolkien fan way longer than T&S fan, and uh... That Show is not hitting that mark for me at all.

TLDR: great show, if we ever get a second season (navigating the late 90's Canadian indie music scene and becoming adults? YES PLEASE), I bet all of my extremely minor gripes are fixed.

I only knew tangentially of tegan and sara before seeing this show. It doesn't matter towards your potential enjoyment whatsoever.

The scene-setting for me particularly (incredibly early-mid 90's pilled musically) was so fun to see. My high school experience was a decade after this show but It didn't feel far off at all.

The acting is quite good. The 2 leads are asked to be all sorts of things... snotty, sarcastic, infatuated, caring... and they do all of it well enough. The real heavy hitting will come towards the end of the season I'm assuming.

The Mother is a real breath of fresh air. She strikes a balance between "cool mom" and stern that you love to see.

Having 2 separate but conjoined queer stories at the helm of a coming of age show is something we need more of. Hopefully gone are the days of a "thrown in" queer story or even the stereotypical stuff with a "good heart". This feels very real.

When the book first came out, I fell in love with it immediately. I read it over and over. Being a queer teenager, I found comfort in their story. This book has gotten me through my own adventures in high school and never leaves my side. When I first heard the idea that it might turn into a TV show, I was excited but also very worried the show wouldn't be nearly as a great of a representation of T&S' origin story as the book, as it wasn't made by T&S themselves. And I got even more worried when I found out the actors playing T&S weren't actually actors. I thought that it would maybe be a hard watch, but I was most definitely proven wrong. Clea, Railey, Seazynn and everyone else involved with the show did an absolutely phenomenal job bringing T&S' origin story to life. The first episode was a great introduction to who T&S are. I really enjoyed how the second episode spent time focusing on their mom and her struggles. The change of perspective throughout was very well done and the show did a really good job letting you know who the characters are. Even if you're not a fan of T&S and go in to this not knowing it's a real story about real people, it's still going to be an enjoyable watch. The show does an amazing job representing what it's like to be a queer teen trying to navigate life. I am beyond excited for the next four episodes.

Binged the first 8 episodes this evening.

It is an interesting show, and not just full of fluffy high school nostalgia. This mischaracterized as "Comedy" when it should really be "Drama". People have problems, not everyone is totally happy about everything, and not everything is fixed the way you might hope. Not the standard "there is an issue and it will be solved by the end of the episode" drama. There are definitely good things that happen, not to worry.

Since this is an autobiographical story of Tegan and Sara, it moves along at a realistic pace. I like the fact that a story like this can be made and has an audience, even if it might not be what some people expect.

The soundtrack is definitely top-notch, lots of great tunes in there.

I relate to a lot of this show, except the fact that I'm a straight male who never became an accomplished musician. Other than that, I love how much of my childhood this reflects. The music, the way relationships played out in the 90s, the broken home... It's done perfectly. The whole atmosphere encapsulates the period so well but that's not all that's good about this.

The acting (especially from The two leads who technically aren't "actors") is phenomenal. The 90s was a unique decade and It always amazes me when younger people (who weren't even nearly alive in the 90s) are able to tap into the attitude of the era and understand what made my generation, what it was and how we lived on the run up to a technical revolution. It was almost dystopian in some ways and it's incredible how this show captures that in every way.

It says so much by saying so little and I appreciate it for what it is. Didn't think I would like it very much as I didn't think I'd relate to any of it but I gave it a chance and I'm glad I did.

Looking forward to more.