Courtesy of City TV / Netflix
Week three of City TV / Netflix’s Between escalates the conflict between two groups while stranding one character in a laughable animal attack subplot.
Let’s bitch it out…
The division between the Footballers and the newly named “Creekers” (creative!) escalates when Chuck (Justin Kelly) and his boys show up to call out Ronnie (Kyle Mac) for nearly burning down the grocery store and potentially killing Chuck’s sister. At this point the battle lines are firmly drawn, but the haterade for Ronnie doesn’t make sense. 1×03 spends so much time and energy telling us that Ronnie is a bad guy, but all we’ve seen is an impulsive teen who wears a lot of black. The biggest problem with this series is that it is trying to develop its characters under duress, at times when all they are is their actions. So Chuck remains a hothead and little else, while Ronnie is the black sheep because we are told so.
In any case, after the power goes out and shots are fired (including one straight into Ryan Allen’s Gord), capturing Ronnie becomes priority number one. Along the way Between covers some exposition, including the fact that Ronnie can’t be the killer because he was sleeping with Stacey (Samantha Munro) aka Chuck’s girlfriend. The fact that we’ve never met Stacey before makes this revelation inconsequential – it just proves that Ronnie is a bit of a douche, that Chuck is a dick and that this Stacey girl is a bit of a hoe. Between‘s writers have put so much effort into constructing this false conflict, it has to escalate, which means it’s not long before Ronnie is holding Amanda (Krystal Hope Nausbaum) hostage at knifepoint. Sigh.
The standoff comes to a head just in time for Pat (Jim Wtason) and Gord to clear his name, but because now Ronnie feels slighted, he insists that the conflict has just begun. I’m with Gord when he insists that “this is stupid”.
Other Observations:
- The cold open is, just like last week, the death of a child. ‘Who’s In Charge?’ began with vehicular manslaughter; tonight a child is eaten by a tiger. Although I will admit that the edible child elicited the expected reaction from me (shock and disgust), I can do without the series’ desperate eagerness to remind us how easily children will perish without proper supervision every.fucking.week.
- Frances (Shailyn Pierre-Dixon) being stalked by a tiger on the farm = Between‘s version of the Kim/Cougar plot on 24? Honestly, every time we cut back to her, it’s just ridiculous.
- Wiley (Jennette McCurdy) still can’t face her baby. Sad Wiley.
- Adam (Jesse Carere) throws Wiley’s bag into the minefield. Very rude. Why didn’t he throw his own bag, like a rational person would? Oh, that’s right, because his bag was full of inconsequential stuff and her bag was full of money and this reveal had to come out somehow. This was just annoying.
- Kudos to Melissa (Brooke Palsson) for calling Wiley out for being a selfish, lazy beyotch. I know that McCurdy is supposedly a big star from her Nickelodeon days, but as an introduction to her, Between has been a hugely frustrating experience. Wiley is a total bitch, so hopefully this marks a turn-around in her charactrer’s behaviour. Traveling with Ronnie, however, may not be the best decision.
- Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, Mark (Jack Murray) shows up in town in a big honkin’ truck and declares himself Santa Claus. At least many the presence of a convicted felon will actually make the rift between Chuck and Ronnie interesting or obsolete.
Best Lines:
- Kyle (to Tracy): “Text the cousins – let them know Chuck is here with some guys.” What is this, the Pretty Lake mafia?
- Shailene Garnett’s Symonds: “Adam, hey, check this out. Encyclopedias! It’s like the new Internet!” I get that she’s being sarcastic, but the delivery doesn’t quite work.
Your turn: is the conflict between the footballers and the Creepers escalating too quickly? Is Wiley the series’ worst character? Did you laugh uncontrollably at Frances’ animal danger storyline? Sound off below.
Between airs Thursdays at 8pm EST on City TV in Canada and is available Fridays on Netflix