Stars: 3.5/5
“Get Even” is another new Netflix Original bringing teens into a murder mystery. Maybe it was my binge-watch exhaustion, yet I wasn’t pulled into the show.
Luckily, each episode has a lot packed in within 27 minutes which forced me to pay attention. Each episode left me with a cliffhanger. I wasn’t bored nor was I fully engaged into the show.
We are introduced to four girls who run Don’t Get Mad (DGM), an anonymous group that exposes bullies at their school. Kitty is the overachieving sporty brainiac overachiever who will do anything to live up to parents’ high expectations.
Olivia lives a faux rich lifestyle while simultaneously being a puppet for her friends. Bree is the rich trouble maker due to both mommy and daddy issues. Finally, we have American, Margot Rivers, an asocial, awkward gamer whose diary was read in front of the whole school.
The members of DGM are unknown and each girl pretends to not know one another at school. I found it smart but not convincing enough. Throughout the series, I worried whenever they casually bumped into each other constantly.
The girls aren’t also perfect or try to be. The closest is Olivia who allowed her friends to bully Margot. Don’t let me get started on the unlikability that Olivia’s puppet master, Amber, embodies. I was grateful the moment Margot stood up to her.
The shows follow the life of each girl prior and after DGM is accused of a murder that they didn’t do. The mystery is hands down is impeccable. I was left wondering how and who murdered the two characters and if they both were by the same person. Also, the girls’ cleverness is not exaggerated. Each one’s personality and strengthens and weaknesses are consistently acknowledged.
The cinematography isn’t that special or stands out. However, the soundtrack established scenes’ moods and sometimes stole the spotlight. The secondary characters aren’t that memorable, leading me to go back and say, “Who is that?”
“Get Even” doesn’t bring anything new to the teen thriller genre. There are plot holes, of course, and the cliched teenage melodrama. It doesn’t have the glamorous escape of Netflix’s international hit, “Elite” nor does it have the swift chaos of “Control-Z,” another show on the streaming platform. “Get Even” had the ability to adapt a book series with humility with a reasonable pace and just enough plot twists.