Netflix’s newest hit drama Adolescence shares one vital trait with many of the best shows ever made - the tiny details all add up to make it much, much better.
Whether it be Severance, Succession, or Breaking Bad, many of the most popular series will have fans picking out tiny details and realising that, in actual fact, it’s the small things that make them the best.
One viewer noticed a particular detail of this kind in the finale of Adolescence and, as a result, has called for the show to win a tonne of awards for that alone.
Based on the reaction so far though, I think those hoping for awards for Adolescence will be in luck.
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For those who live under a rock and have heard nothing of Adolescence, the Netflix series follows a young boy who is arrested on suspicion of murder.
Played by first time actor Owen Cooper, it also focuses on his father, played by Stephen Graham, with a stellar supporting cast in Erin Doherty, Ashley Walters, and Faye Marsay.
Warning: Spoilers for the finale of Netflix’s Adolescence ahead
The show’s finale deals with the aftermath more than a year on from Jamie’s arrest, culminating in Cooper’s Jamie calling his dad to tell him he was planning to change his plea to guilty.
The call happens as Graham’s character, Eddie, is driving his daughter Lisa and wife Manda back home.
An important context to Jamie’s killing is something hinted at throughout the show, that Jamie had fallen into misogynistic incel circles online.
This is further shown in episode three, in which he speaks to a female child psychologist who he tries to intimidate at various points.
During the call, one viewer noticed a small detail, saying: “I don’t know if a lot of people noticed, but the way Jamie spoke to his mother and sister in the car (EP 4) was subtle, but powerful.
“His overall dismissiveness towards the most important women in his life? Wow. Emmy’s all around.”
Viewers in the replies were all in agreement about the importance of this detail, with one saying: “I was thinking that - and how he didn’t ask after them, to see how they were, when he thought he was only speaking to his dad.”
The original poster then replied: “Makes you realise that despite him going to therapy and choosing to plead guilty, he still hasn’t fully unlearned his contempt for women. Just wow…..”
Graham, who wrote the series alongside Jack Thorne, spoke to The Independent about the influence of ‘manosphere’ and ‘incel’ online culture on the show.
He said: “It's just being mindful of the fact that not only we parent our children, and not only the school educates our children.
“But also there's influences that we have no idea of that are having profound effects on our young culture, profound effects, positive and extremely negative. So it’s having a look at that and seeing that we’re all accountable.”
Graham went on to say he wanted Jamie to come from an ordinary background, saying: “We wanted to be mindful from the very beginning that there was no way you could point the finger.
“Dad wasn't particularly violent in the house and didn't raise his hand to mum or the boy or his daughter. Mum wasn't an alcoholic. Jamie wasn't abused sexually or mentally or physically.”
Thorne added: “The kids aren't watching Andrew Tate.
“They're watching a lot more dangerous stuff than Andrew Tate. We were trying present a portrait of complexity of this kid that had been made by all sorts of different influences and the thing about incel culture is there's a logic to it.”
Adolescence is available to watch on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, Adolescence, Stephen Graham, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin