Head High

This show is great. So many flawed characters with the adults which makes it so engaging but then balanced out with some amazing parents.

Only half way through and I'm enjoying it so much.

So real and rich. All the characters and story lines come from life in NZ.

Having lived in NZ - it was so nice to watch this gem of a series, and be reminded of all that makes it amazing ... and tough too.

The story focuses on a whanau - and follows their kids journey across 2 years in high school. A little like the excellent "Sex education" (although clearly in a different genre) it mixes real-life challenges, dramas with a dose of feel-good high school life.

Acting throughout is on-point. Script and editing is tight. And the story keeps enough pace to make it truly binge worthy.

Friday Night Lights is my all time favourite show. I would love an Aotearoa New Zealand drama to be as good. I held my breath in the first episode, waiting for a misstep which didn't come. The writing and characterisation rings true. There has been some criticism that the white vs brown narrative is simplified. Sadly, I've been around high schools for three decades and the 'types' shown in this show are exactly as I've experienced. The second episode, I was crying from the start. There is the risk of that the characterisations might fall into tropes or caricatures but, thankfully, so far, the script writers give the characters shade. The acting is brilliant. The look and feel is authentic - those of us from Auckland will feel it is so recognisable. My hope is that the story line continues to develop.

Everything about this series rings absolutely true. The characters have depth and complexity and over the episodes they just get more believable as we learn more about them. There's humour and poignancy. Its understated and well cast. The dialogue sounds authentic. And I care what happens to these characters. Everyone associated with this production should be hugely proud. I LOVE South Auckland! Go hard SA.