Meet Your GIRLBOSS

Article first published as TV Review: GIRLBOSS on Seat42F.

Netflix’s latest series is GIRLBOSS. It’s the story of Sophia, a young woman who doesn’t yet know what she wants to do with her life, and so bounces between jobs and casually breaks the law while sleeping with drummers. You know, just a typical story. In the process, however, she sort of accidentally starts her own business and becomes a powerhouse entrepreneur worth millions. And it’s (very loosely) based on a true story.

Britt Robertson (Life Unexpected, Tomorrowland) stars as Sophia, and brings just the right mix of moxy and snark to the role. Sophia is not very likable when described outside of the story, and yet, there’s something magnetic about her. You may, as I did, find yourself rooting for her to succeed, even as she’s ripping people off and showing utter disrespect to those who don’t deserve it. She’s a rebel who refuses to play by established rules and cuts her own path, which is a much harder way to go through life and not always necessary (as it isn’t here), and yet could end up being more rewarding. I’ve long liked Robertson, but this may be my favorite role for her yet in its complexity, another well-deserved series lead.

Sadly, if you look into the person Sophia is supposed to be in real life, any success will be fleeting, as the company just getting started in this dramedy series, Nasty Girl, recently filed for bankruptcy.

Robertson is joined by an absolutely terrific cast that includes Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Jim Rash (Community), RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), Alphonso McAuley (Breaking In), Johnny Simmons (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), and Ellie Reed. Not all of these are well known, but all are good, mixing younger, fresher faces with experienced, lauded performers. Robertson sort of spans the two groups, talented without a lot of high-profile parts to date, so it works out very well.

The plot itself is pretty good, though after two episodes, I’m not sure it’s completely good enough for the actors. The story itself is relatively predictable and familiar. Coming on the heels of Girls, GIRLBOSS might lack the attention it would otherwise receive. Arrested development has been done before, and somewhat more edgy or raw than it is here. This is like a slightly sanitized version of the too-soon-gone How to Make it in America.

I’m not completely sold on the idea of this being a period piece. 2006 isn’t long enough ago to feel all that different, and aside from the clunky cell phones and a well-placed The Devil Wears Prada billboard, I can’t say it feels all that different from today. The fact that the characters go out of their way to make pop culture references, which do feel shoe-horned in, makes me wish they’d just set it in the present. I don’t know that anything is really added to the story by going backward.

And yet, the truly excellent performances raise the overall profile enough to totally hook viewers in and make you want to watch more. In peak TV, the show might not be good enough to stand out, but I doubt audiences that give it a chance won’t want to see it through. I know I’m full invested already to watch the series until cancellation, whenever than may be.

In all, I do recommend GIRLBOSS, but not unequivocally. This isn’t a show I would tell people they have to watch, but I did enjoy it and do plan to binge it myself. Take that as you will.

GIRLBOSS’s thirteen episode first season is available on Netflix today.

Journey to KLONDIKE

Article first published as KLONDIKE Review on Seat42F.

Discovery Channel’s first scripted miniseries, KLONDIKE, tells the story of the gold rush in Alaska in the late 1890s. It paints a picture of many types of characters who just might make it in a frontier setting, where rules and laws give way to survival of the fittest and nature, as well as the hero who struggles to adjust his morality. Who will thrive and who will perish? Tune in to find out.

It’s good to see more cable networks getting into the scripted game. As someone who detests most reality programming, and even finds many of the so-called “educational” stuff on Discovery and History hokey and annoying, I don’t typically appreciate the offerings of these networks. But a good drama, which either tells a true story (in a fashion) or presents a period of time most people don’t know a lot about, is welcome. KLONDIKE may fit this category.

KLONDIKE reminds me a lot of AMC’s Hell on Wheels. It has a similar tone and wild spirit, and the players feel familiar. It took me awhile to get into Hell on Wheels, likely because the frame of reference is so far off between today and that era. KLONDIKE, too, begins a little slowly, but it has good enough cast that I’ll give it the same chance, hoping it will grow on me the way the AMC show has, though KLONDIKE is a limited-run piece. Plus, a twist late in Part One really got me excited about what’s happening.

After the obligatory, out-of-sequence hook, which nearly all shows seem to feel the need to include these days, though they really shouldn’t, the first part begins with two young men, Bill Haskell (Richard Madden, Game of Thrones) and Byron Epstein (Augustus Prew, The Borigas), setting out to make their fortune beyond The Wall in the snowy wilderness.. They have a spirit of adventure, brave souls, and a naivety that will definitely bring them more trouble than good. They’re familiar types, but not unwelcome ones.

Upon reaching their destination, the town of Klondike, Bill and Byron quickly learn that they are not at all prepared for the life they’ve embarked upon. They don’t understand the attitudes of the local Native Americans, and are surprised by the unscrupulous and selfish nature of their new neighbors. They get in over their heads in a compelling way, and by the end of the first part, viewers should care about them.

Among the characters they meet in their new home are mill owner Belinda Mulrooney (Abbie Cornish, Outriders), who is very protective of her business ventures, wise, kind priest Father Judge (Sam Shepard, The Right Stuff), whom the locals don’t care for nearly as much as Bill does, con-artist Soapy Smith (Ian Hart, Luck Dirt), who tries to seem harmless, The Count (Tim Roth, Lie To Me), the clear villain of the piece, and aspiring writer Jack London (Johnny Simmons, The Perks of Being a Wallflower).

Yes, that Jack London. For whatever reason, many historical tales feel the need to stick in real-life figures. London isn’t the only such person in KLONDIKE, but is the most famous one. I think they feel this gives the story some legitimacy, tying it to the real world by using a familiar name. But rarely do such projects care much about portraying the person in an authentic light, bending them to the whims of the script, instead, so London, like many that came before him in other shows, is a failed experiment, which KLONDIKE would be better off without.

The others are mostly types, too, to be honest. We’ve had plenty of woman who spur the traditional gender roles, or businessmen who are ruthless. Perhaps these archetypes work for a reason, but it still leaves one, who has already born witness to so many of them, yearning for something more fresh and original.

That being said, there is some strong casting here, and hopefully the actors will raise the parts above their starting position. I already like Bill, and the others have just enough potential that they might salvage the program, though in lesser hands than those currently guiding them, they would very much waste away.

KLONDIKE airs at 9 p.m. ET this week on Discovery Channel, starting Monday.