I’d heard about the series before The CW picked it up; I was particularly excited because Degrassi alum Cassie Steele was headlining the cast, and several creative people from Degrassi would also be involved. Fortunately, the show doesn’t disappoint… it might even exceed my high expectations. When watching the screeners that The CW sent along, I found myself watching all of the first three episodes in one sitting. I couldn’t get enough, and I still want more.
Although the concept of the show is about young people moving to L.A. to try to make it in the entertainment industry, there are concepts that I think many could relate to. Moving to a new place, seeking out a job… these are concepts that anyone could identify with. We see a lot of those struggles initially through the eyes of Abby Vargas, Cassie Steele’s character. Abby… the nicest way to put it is that she doesn’t have very good luck, and sometimes her bad luck can be a bit glass-shattering. Every episode of the first three seems to start with some misfortune for Abby, and it’s when that first big scary thing happens in the L.A. Complex pilot that you start to get sucked in.
Tonally, The L.A. Complex isn’t quite like other CW shows. It doesn’t seem as zippy as 90210 but it’s a lot more genuine; and unlike 90210, the shocking moments don’t seem quite so manufactured. Another big difference between The L.A. Complex and its Beverly Hills-based CW Tuesday companion is that the characters seem to be a lot more fully formed. In just three episodes I feel like I “know” these people and want to see more of them; with 90210, I just want a few of them to jump off a cliff or get in a fatal surfing accident. The other thing I like is, even though there’s a lot of drama, there are also fun moments that made me laugh. That was an issue I had with Ringer, actually… sure, drama is great, but you need to let your main characters smile every once in a while. Even when things aren’t the greatest, these characters do get their small victories.
The L.A. Complex also introduced me to new actors that I hadn’t seen much of before. Actors like Jonathan Patrick Moore, Joe Dinicol, Benjamin Charles Watson, Andra Fuller, and Chelan Simmons are almost completely new to me, even though many of them already have quite impressive resumes, but it still made things a bit more exciting. Thankfully “new to me” does not in any way mean “they suck” – all of them are quite good. I do wish some of the random guests that we see were familiar faces, but perhaps that will change once the show becomes more known. I will say that one familiar face did made me smile – the Tariq character’s boss, “Dynasty,” is played by Dayo Ade. Old-school Degrassi fans know him best as “BLT.” Don’t think we didn’t notice, Epitome! (In another Degrassi connection note, Drake is name-checked and I almost hoped we’d hear Abby telling Tariq that she went to high school with Drake! Well, at least she may have in another lifetime…)
A very familiar face in The L.A. Complex is Firefly’s Jewel Staite, who is at that awkward age where she’s too old to play 20, but too young to play someone’s mom. Her character, Raquel, is going through a tough time right now, and like the others, it’s a great mix of funny and awkward all rolled into one. Jewel sells it. She’s really great. Really, every one of the actors and characters I mentioned above brings something unique to the table.
Within just the first three episodes, there are moments that will make viewers jump out of their seats, or at the very least, jaws will drop. I implore you – please do not read L.A. Complex spoilers. That way you can be appropriately surprised when certain things come out.
The series premiere of The L.A. Complex is on tonight, February 24, at 9PM (ET) on The CW. Please watch it… because selfishly, I want The CW to like these enough to order more episodes. If you do watch, I hope you like it as much as I did.
