It's an entertaining show. It has good directing, acting, and cinematography. It uses some cleaver devices, and I love the way the scenes transition. It has some truly great music throughout. The music feels very appropriate to the context.
The writing wasn't the most compelling, but it does manage to weave things together and tell the story in an understandable way, even when it feels a bit corny. The main characters feel so relatable, and even when you don't quite understand everything about them. However, some of the supporting actors feel like they only exist to provide some comic relief and catharsis. I don't think that's really that much of a problem, though. This show deals with a lot of difficult, and troubling subject matter. If it weren't for the goofy comedy, it might feel a bit too heavy. Personally, I could handle all that, but I understand that younger viewers might find it boring.
There are also some other problems which I think need to be discussed, and I have to wonder if it's because of the country in which it was made.
I'm talking about the way how the show contrasts the twin siblings as polar opposites, and does it in such a way as to reinforce some homophobic assertions. For one, the non-binary/gender-fluid brother is a mess, and not just an emotional mess. He's into some very shady dealings, and a sort of "black sheep". Also, he engages in some dishonest behavior to win the affections of one of his brother's best friends, and is simultaneously contributing to the same person's delinquency. He is a bad influence, and a criminal.
The other twin brother is the polar opposite. He is presented as a very kind, honest, genuine and upstanding person. They even present him in a way that makes him seem vulnerable, sensitive and tragic. Unlike his twin, he, on the other hand, is struggling in life in no small part due to the shady dealings of his twin brother, who corrupts his friends, screws his girlfriends, and even gets him into a fight with one his closest friends.
Here's my problem with this. It reinforces anti-gay stereotypes. It seems to present the boys as twins as if only to make the point that they would be mostly the same if it weren't for the fact that one of them is something other than straight. It seems to be saying that the only reason the non-binary/gender-fluid brother is such a bad person might be attributed to his sexual/gender orientation. It makes it seem as if he'd be just like his twin, and a good person, if he weren't that way.
Are you kidding me? Am I the only one who sees the subliminal message this is sending? I mean, I'm glad it is showing what being non-binary/gender-fluid is like, and helping people to understand what this even means. However, every other message it is pushing onto the audience in a clandestine way is homophobic propaganda. Pure and simple!
Every single thing the non-binary/gender-fluid character does is presented as being either nonsensical, rebellious, callus, insensitive, self-centered, dishonest, totally crazy and even criminal! This is not a good role model for non-binary/gender-fluid youths, or anyone else for that matter. It's like they are trying to say that only being straight is good, and being anything else has to be evil. Then, it ties it up in a pretty little bow, and presents it to us like its pretending to be affirming.
All of that said, I feel like the ending of the first season left things in such a way that their roles could be reversed were it given a second season. I'm rating it so highly because I think it has potential. We will have to wait and see what happens in the second season, which has been released, but is only available to watch in Italy.
Worth a watch.
