TV Show Review: The End of The F*cking World
By Nataly delcid ‘24
“I’m James. I’m seventeen, and I’m pretty sure I’m a psychopath.” The End of The F*cking World (TEOTFW) follows James as he joins Alyssa, a new and impulsive teenage girl at school, in running away from home. James pretends to fall in love with her and plays along with her abrupt attitude towards life and society, with the ultimate intention of killing her to prove to himself that he’s a psychopath.
As the show goes on, James finds himself exploring emotions and sensitivity while Alyssa does the same. James is constantly repressing his feelings while Alyssa is always expressing them. As they encounter real psychopaths, law enforcement, other teenagers, and strangers on their journey, they begin to increasingly depend and find sanctuary in each other. Alyssa puts down her tough facade and begins to show vulnerability as she grows more fearful of where their path is taking them, and James begins to realize that he can indeed feel things, as he begins to fall in love with Alyssa and forgets his original plan to kill her.
I watched this show years ago, yet it has always stuck with me since it creates a certain sensation unmatched by any other show I’ve seen. There’s an emphasis on simplistically beautiful chaos. For instance, much of the dialogue consists of monosyllabic responses and child-like vocabulary, yet, the way the actors Jessica Barden (Alyssa) and Alex Lawther (James) create such profound scenes through such little material truly speaks to how well the actors know how they want their characters to be perceived. For instance, the line “She made me feel things,” in season one is so simple, yet so groundbreaking because of the way Alex Lawther delivered it so nonchalantly. Every other actor in the world would add some sort of emotion-evoking performance to this line, yet Alex said it in a monotonous way. It was up to the audience to piece together the words he said and realize he’s changing.
Additionally, TEOTFW has a beautiful simplistic aesthetic through its cold color schemes, scenery, and outfits, but the most groundbreaking part of this equation is the soundtrack. The show is plastered with classic rock, country, soul, and doowop. The music is overall very positive, which almost adds an ironic sensation to the series as a whole. The creators understand the gravitude of the plot, yet, they include this soundtrack to bring the audience down to earth to appreciate the show itself and not get pulled in too deep by the show’s depressing theme.
This irony also accentuates how spoiled both the main characters are. To be clear, neither of them have ideal home lives, but they’re lives are not so drastically bad that they would feel the need to run away–they just craved change and adrenaline. James has a dad who loves him and cares for him at home, and Alyssa has a fake and toxic family, but they still watch out for her. Neither of them face circumstances so drastic that they need to run away. The plot of this show is just one of teenage exploration taken to another extreme. The impulsivity that leads most teens to get drunk on a Saturday night is the same impulsivity James and Alyssa feel, yet, since they’ve repressed it for so long they decide to run away and commit multiple crimes instead of getting a pack of White Claws and calling it a night. Now, they must deal with the consequences of their impulsivity.
This leads us into season two, which fully revolves around the consequences of their actions through an attempt to grow up. Alyssa’s mom requests James let Alyssa go, because it’s what he should do if he truly loves her and wishes the best for her. He takes her advice and Alyssa gets engaged to a man she briefly met and works at a diner, all while James continues to recover from his injury. Season one focuses on “doing” while season two is about “dealing” with what they’ve done.
Although it’s refreshing to see them pull themselves up, I believe the show should have ended with season one. The dynamic between the two characters is uniquely touching, yet these two are so contrastive that there is no such thing as a truly happy ending for them. All they have is bits and pieces of love and infatuation here and there, but there is no way they’ll work long term because they’re both so isolated from the real world that they can’t even look out for themselves, let alone each other. If the show would’ve simply ended with season one, which was a sad ending but a realistic one, the audience could appreciate the TV series as a slice of their lives rather than expect some sort of long term plot, which would’ve never satisfied viewers.
In short, the show is effortlessly heartbreaking, but it should’ve been cut off sooner to not give the audience false hope for some sort of resolution. These characters are beyond saving and that should’ve been acknowledged, no matter how much extra money another season might pull in.
