Netflix, you’ve done it again. And this one wrecked me

I watched the first episode of Adolescence, the new series on Netflix, not knowing what I was in for.
Within minutes, I was hooked.

The camera doesn’t blink. It locks you in and refuses to let you look away.
By episode two, I was clutching a cushion like a life raft.
Midway through, I hit pause.
Not because it was terrible. But because it was too real. Too raw.
By the end? I was gutted. Soul. Crushed.

This show doesn’t just tell a story.
It drags you into one.

You don’t watch it—you feel it.
The shame. The longing. The confusion. The desperate ache to belong—and the terrible things we sometimes do to feel seen.

The camera never cuts away. There’s no relief, no emotional distance. Just raw, relentless immersion.
And it doesn’t flinch from the hard stuff:
Sexuality. Shame. Toxic masculinity. Incel culture. Radicalisation. Identity. Consent.
Adolescence isn’t entertainment.
It’s confrontation.

What Adolescence does differently—storytelling without a safety net:

• It uses real-time to raise the stakes. No fast cuts. No relief. You live every second—and it hurts.
• It trusts silence more than speech. Meaning lives in glances, body language, and what’s not said. It’s devastating.
• It tackles taboos without sensationalism. Nothing is gratuitous. Everything has weight.
• It handles trauma without gloss. No melodrama. No trauma-as-plot-device. Just raw, lived truth.
• It refuses resolution. No neat arcs. No redemption. Just the discomfort of reality—and the bravery to stay there.

And honestly? As an adult, I felt helpless.
Frightened. Heartbroken. Like we are failing our young people.

How do we make them feel seen, safe, valued—not judged?
How do we build a world where they feel connected online and in life?
Because if we don’t, the internet will. And it’s not always kind.

This show is a wake-up call.

Adolescence isn’t an easy watch. It’s essential.
It’ll crawl under your skin—and stay there.
Watch it. Let it shake you.
Then, talk to your kids.

Hug them tight.

Hug your family.

That’s all that matters.

And then message me. Because I need to talk about that ending.

Photo by Dima-Solomin for Unsplash