With only eight episodes per season, The End of the F***ing World is easily watchable in one entertainment fueled afternoon. Perhaps it is the fact that each episode is only twenty minutes long, or perhaps it is the fact that the characters intrigue and compel you to watch more right from the very start. Whatever it is, I was gripped instantly.
James (Alex Lawther) is a disturbed seventeen-year-old intent on killing someone. When he meets angsty Alyssa (Jessica Barden), he decides that she is the perfect victim. Naturally, as we watch the characters develop and their backstories are disclosed, it becomes apparent that Alyssa is shaping up to be more of a love interest than James’ first murder victim. After the unlikely, or perhaps comically obvious duo run away together, a special bond reveals itself beneath the whacky, unexpected and often completely outrageous events which make up the season.
At times shocking and at other times totally hilarious, it is the small and sincere glimpses of humanity in the forms of fear and kindness which make the show striking. Is another season on the cards? Maybe, but we’re not giving anything away about the ending.
4/5
