Kicking onto the screen
Teenage Bounty Hunters is the summer show you need to watch.
Dropped on August 14th, the new Netflix series, Teenage Bounty Hunters, is just the show I needed to kick my summer up a notch. Twin sisters Sterling ( Maddie Phillips) and Blair ( Anjelica Bette Fellini) stumble upon the world of bounty hunting and bail skipping when they have an encounter with aged bounty hunter Bowser ( Kadeem Hardison).
This is an interesting concept but one where it could easily fall short. The series doesn’t take itself too seriously and the often sarcastic tone of the teens makes for some great lines. Is it just me or is Anjelica channeling Anna Kendrick in this role? She has that wonderful energy and spark that makes her character so appealing. Sterling and Blair are enveloped in the world of a religious school which makes some plot points have a heavier feel to them. The budding romance that falls outside the bounds of what they know, the family betrayals and secrets, sex.
There is a lot of sex. Not graphic and much of it not on screen, but this show does not shy away from the reality of young people having sex and conversations about it. I normally feel that sex in teen based shows comes off as gratuitous and a bit voyeuristic but in this show, it’s very real and accurate to what teens do and think. The show’s narrative doesn’t slut shame the girls, and boys, for exploring their sexuality and themselves. There is a scene where Blair is encouraging her sister to explore herself and find out what tickles her fancy, when Sterling confesses she has never experienced an orgasm. It is showing young women that there is no shame in knowing yourself and being able to express that to a sexual partner.
Sterling faces what many adult women have. I can’t tell you how many adult women friends of mine, many married, who have never experienced pleasure from sex and don’t even know how to go about it for themselves. Our society puts out so much about men’s sexual pleasure, while ignoring women’s, that when two female rappers talk about theirs ( WAP) it causes “controversy’”. In 20202, many people still apparently think women aren’t supposed to enjoy sex. Dudes, why are you having sex with women if you think they don’t enjoy it? Why is anyone surprised that women want sexual pleasure? We really need to talk about it more and representations on screen such as this one, will help. I applaud the show’s writers for putting this on screen in such a nonchalant way.
The acting is great and honestly every actor on that show is just killing their roles. Other than the twins themselves, Bowser is my favorite character. How nice is it to see Kadeem Hardison in this? I grew up in the 80’s/ early 90’s so he was one of my first TV crushes but I’m loving seeing him as this kinda grouchy but sweet older bounty hunter. He certainly looks like most bounty hunters I’ve seen, ones like Method Man’s YouTube channel hosting Terrance Coin represents the other side kind of bounty hunter, the one who loves publicity and screen time. He is the perfect counter to Bowser and frankly, Method Man is really charismatic on screen and I love seeing him on film.A really well rounded cast with decent diversity of characters.
Ultimately the show is fun. I do have some issues with the “twin mind speak” trope that is used, mostly because I am the parent of identical twins who literally barely even like each other. While I feel the device isn’t too overused in the show and it often gives some great comic relief moments, it is the one thing that bothers me about the show. I’m willing to forgive it because it isn’t an all the time thing and each episode is so quick moving, I don’t have time to get truly annoyed by it before the story continues its move forward.
When the girls, and Bowser, are out of the hunt you get a lot of fun action and energy. This is balanced with showing how the girls are navigating their teen years and the often awkward things that happen to us during adolescence. I wish I had a tenth of those girls’ confidence when I was growing up but hope that the new generation of young women will see shows like this and know their worth and that they can really do anything. Many positive messages run through the show and it tackles current issues, while still being an entertaining watch.
Kathleen Jordan created the episodic series and staffed her room with a balance of male and female writers, which from my past research and experience, leads to a more engaging and authentic story. I can really see the varied background of the writers come through in both story and how well developed the characters are and this is what makes TV fun to watch. Unlike in film, episodic writing is more of a collaborative process and how a show runner staffs their room often correlates to how strong the series is. With a feature, it’s usually one writer at a time, or a pair of writing partners, and then the script may get sent to another writer or into production, but you aren’t breaking the story with anyone else and writers almost never get to talk to the previous writer. I’m of the mind that the more diverse your writing staff is, the easier it can be to break a story. The writers’ room of Teenage Bounty Hunters must be a fun and energetic room, given what ends up on the page and ultimately on screen. I hope they get renewed and get to do it all over again because I’m ready to see what they do for a second season.
If you haven’t streamed Teenage Bounty Hunters yet, I highly encourage you to do so. It’ll make your summer kicking!
