Surviving Summer - Un'estate travolgente

Clean good fun. Super refreshing teen show! I'm not a teen but it was fun to watch! Plus the soundtrack was great! Hopefully they some out with season two!

My husband and I started this show (and finished it) last night, and it was a very cute, feel-good show. I wasn't sure what to expect, as most films I've seen about Australia lately revolve around an American moving there and falling in love with it, so I figured it'd be typical. Yes, it's not a storyline you've never heard before, but the show was well-made and each episode, though only a half hour, felt like a little mini-movie. I hope it gets renewed for a second season, as I'd love to see Summer return to Australia! (Or maybe...Ari visit New York?? It does have a beach...)

While no masterpiece, this bit of surf, gorgeous Aussie locations and romantic teen adventures has its moments. There's a feel-good atmosphere behind each episode that is almost more Kiwi than Aussie. Smiles abound and tensions are soon resolved, the condescending moral storytelling so often associated with Hollywood teen efforts nowhere in sight.

It had some good moments, but felt a bit too simple and bland. Even though I enjoy teen/summer shows. The acting and the chemistry the actors in the main group have is weak. I wasn't very interested by the storylines also. The show makes Outer Banks way better and I wouldn't be mad if it gets cancelled.

It's solid at best, anyway.

By the fourth episode most main characters, in this case "Summer" begin to be somewhat likable. Not the case with this lead. She's everything the "ugly American" represents while overseas, in this series, Australia. She's annoying, entitled and a snob. I'm not sure the writers intended it to be this way or if it's the delivery by the lead actress, Sky Katz. Either way she's from New York City and portrays New York teens as those who believe there's no place else in the world except NYC and she's got a smart ass answer for every other character, especially adults.

She gets sent off by her mother to Australia to live with her aunt, uncle and their two kids, because of her bad behavior. The boy, Ari, has had a surfing accident that put him out of surfing for a year. There is the usual teenage drama with a really obnoxious teenage American mixed in. If you can handle the lead actress's character it's worth watching.