As I said in one of my post few days ago, there were many new interesting movies and series released on Netflix last week. Amazingly this se...
Brief Story Line
Pippa "Pip" Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myers - Family Switch, ) was a 17 year old high school students who was best friends with Cara Ward (Asha Banks - The Magic Flute etc) since 4 years old. As part of her school project, Pip decided to write about the murder/suicide case that occurred 5 years ago. Although her teacher Mr. Elliot Ward (Matthew Baynton - Wonka, Ghosts TV series etc) suggested different topic and despite the strong advice from her parents Leanne (Anna Maxwell Martin - Code 404 TV series, The Duke etc) and Victor Amobi (Gary Beadle - In the Heart of the Sea, EastEnders TV series etc), Pip still went ahead with her project.
During her "investigation", Pip befriended Ravi Singh (Zain Iqbal) who was the younger brother of the accused. Pip also met with the victim's younger sister Becca Bell (Carla Woodcock - Free Rein, Tell Me Everything TV series etc) and few best friends of the accused, like Max Hastings (Henry Ashton - My Lady Jane TV series etc) and Cara's sister Naomi (Yasmin Al-Khudairi - Ackley Bridge TV series etc). As they dig deeper, Pip was getting threats which would endanger her life.
So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this series.
End of Brief Story Line
As soon as I started watching the first episode, I was immediately hooked by the series. The characters were all likable, especially the lead Pip and Ravi. I also like watching Pip and her tight knit group of friends who were very close and supportive with one another. Although not all of them got large screen time, but every time they appeared together, you could feel the warmth of their relationship. This made the series had a light tone which was pleasing and fitting since the persons involved mostly were high school students, even if its main story was to find out the truth about the murder/suicide.
The mystery itself at first seemed not too complicated. The investigation was done in a rather simplistic manner, obviously not the kind where professional detective or police were doing it. But as the story progressed and the truth was slowly revealed, it became more intriguing. Like any other mystery solving series, I also have my own opinion of what happened or who was the culprit. In here, I was glad that I could guess it correctly. However, it turned out that I was only half right cause there were more twists that I did not see coming. Perhaps if my wife who is better at this than I am watch the series, she would have been more accurate. Anyway those twists make it more entertaining for me.
In case you are wondering, the series was based on the hit novel of the same title written by Holly Jackson. From what I read, if the series is successful enough, they would make additional seasons based on her subsequent novels. It would definitely be interesting to see them again if they chose to renew this. The series was developed for BBC Three which would explain the unfamiliar cast for me as they were British and mostly played in British series/movies. It's a bit weird though that the main character Pip was played by Emma Myers who is an American. Probably they were impressed by her previous works and convinced she would be the ideal Pip. Aside from the names I mentioned above, there were also additional main cast of Raiko Gohara, Jude Morgan-Collie and Yali Topol Margalith as Pip's friends Zach, Connor and Lauren respectively, plus support cast like India Lillie Davies as the victim Andie Bell, Rahul Pattni as the accused Sal Singh and few others.
Overall this is an enjoyable mystery solving series done by intelligent high school student who is basically a good girl. It felt refreshing as it did not have dark tone that could be rather depressing. The lovely scenery of the small town in England, albeit fictional was an added value for me. Watching this made me feel like seeing the modern day adventures from the books written by Enid Blyton which were some of my favorites during my childhood years. And having smart twists that I was unable to guess made it even more fun for me. It also only had 6 episodes with duration between 43-51 minutes which would make it easy to finish. I could see why critics adored this series (as proven by its high ratings) and similarly audience who were entertained by it. So if you are in the mood for some light series such as this one, then I think you would enjoy it like I did.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars