For the first 40 or so minutes of "New Year, New You", I thought it had the potential to be "Into the Dark's" best episode yet. By the time it ended, however, it ended up being its worst to date.
For a basic plot summary, this episode sees a group of four young women (all former high school "besties") gather together for a New Years party. Alexis (Suki Waterhouse) hosts the gathering, and obviously holds a grudge against Danielle (Carly Chaikin), now a social media darling. Also present are Kayla (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Chloe (Melissa Bergland), who initially try to defuse the building tension. The conflict between Alexis and Danielle eventually comes to a surprisingly violent head, however, and it turns into more of a strictly survival situation for all involved.
I can easily see what director Sophia Takal is going for with "New Year, New You", as it taps into timely or universal issues like jealousy, bullying, and social media influence. The problem, sadly, is that every one of those issues is handled extremely poorly in the end:
(Spoilers)
-The scar on Alexis' face that is given so much initial screen time? Turns out not to mean (or even represent) anything. -Alexis goes from mousy wallflower to frantic revenge-doler in an instant. -There is no conflict in Danielle's character. For this whole thing to work, viewers needed to have some sense that perhaps she is being wrongly persecuted and Alexis is the true villain of the piece. This does not happen until perhaps the final scene (and even weakly/poorly at that). -The ending seems utterly unbelievable based on everything we had seen before. Alexis replaces Danielle as social media queen bee? Give me a break! Maybe that works if something like that was hinted at during the episode, but as it stands it seems just too far-fetched and counter-intuitive for all we had seen previously.
So, while "New Year, New You" uses all the right lingo and contains enough action or relatable moments to keep younger or more half-hearted audiences somewhat engaged, those looking for meaningful character development or plot resolutions need not apply. As has become the norm for "Into The Dark", an interesting concept is once again ruined (or at least severely wounded) by uneven or outright poor execution.
For a basic plot summary, this episode sees a group of four young women (all former high school "besties") gather together for a New Years party. Alexis (Suki Waterhouse) hosts the gathering, and obviously holds a grudge against Danielle (Carly Chaikin), now a social media darling. Also present are Kayla (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Chloe (Melissa Bergland), who initially try to defuse the building tension. The conflict between Alexis and Danielle eventually comes to a surprisingly violent head, however, and it turns into more of a strictly survival situation for all involved.
I can easily see what director Sophia Takal is going for with "New Year, New You", as it taps into timely or universal issues like jealousy, bullying, and social media influence. The problem, sadly, is that every one of those issues is handled extremely poorly in the end:
(Spoilers)
-The scar on Alexis' face that is given so much initial screen time? Turns out not to mean (or even represent) anything. -Alexis goes from mousy wallflower to frantic revenge-doler in an instant. -There is no conflict in Danielle's character. For this whole thing to work, viewers needed to have some sense that perhaps she is being wrongly persecuted and Alexis is the true villain of the piece. This does not happen until perhaps the final scene (and even weakly/poorly at that). -The ending seems utterly unbelievable based on everything we had seen before. Alexis replaces Danielle as social media queen bee? Give me a break! Maybe that works if something like that was hinted at during the episode, but as it stands it seems just too far-fetched and counter-intuitive for all we had seen previously.
So, while "New Year, New You" uses all the right lingo and contains enough action or relatable moments to keep younger or more half-hearted audiences somewhat engaged, those looking for meaningful character development or plot resolutions need not apply. As has become the norm for "Into The Dark", an interesting concept is once again ruined (or at least severely wounded) by uneven or outright poor execution.