Review: The End of the F***ing World is actually just the beginning

Once again, Netflix has brought audiences another series to keep us glued to the couch for hours on end.

“The End of the F***ing World” released as one of the streaming website’s originals on Jan. 5. This dark comic series highlights the misadventures of an emerging teen psychopath, James (played by Alex Lawther), and his rebel girlfriend—or kill target—Alyssa (played by Jessica Barden).

The character development in the story of this dysfunctional teenage romance is what makes the show unique. It doesn’t resort to the typical portrayal of adolescent rebellion and teen angst. Instead, “The End of the F***ing World” demonstrates the main characters’ consciousness via voice overs.

Of course on screen, we also get the occasional expected corny teen clapback, but what makes this show intriguing is that these petty remarks are supported by the character's deranged dark yet relatable inner thoughts.

In just eight episodes, this cruel comedy manages to evolve its characters from distant and hated by the audience to sympathetic and loved.

James is the first character introduced. At the beginning of episode one, he is presented as a twisted remorseless psychotic who once put his hand into a deep fryer as a child because he “wanted to feel something” and has a craving to kill his love interest.

By the end of the season, we are promised murder. We get it, but we see James in a different light.

For all of the “Black Mirror” fans, it's exciting to see Lawther play James in this role after he starred in one of the most deviant and cringe-worthy episodes of the series.

Alyssa is fed up with her monotonous life and neglectful parents and has a contagious bad attitude. Her foul-mouthed, disrespectful nature coupled with her desire to go off the grid is what drives the plot of the show’s disturbingly heartwarming plot.  

Although the alternative approach to teen rebellion and the character shift throughout “The End of the F***ing World” are elements that make this show intriguing, I was looking forward to a scene that would eventually show how far James would go to prove himself as a physcopath.

For a risk of spoilers, I’ll save the details, but this is definitely the next show to put on the binge list. Just be ready to be at least a little disturbed.