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I can't really say what drew me in to this series...I just saw it on Netflix and it looked good I guess. But I can tell you I binge-watched all two seasons in one week and I continued to think about the show even after I was finished watching it. So that definitely makes it review-worthy for me.
Here goes.
The show is about Lux, a teenager who was given up at birth and floated around the foster care system her whole life. When she turns sixteen she files for emancipation and meets her birth parents when requesting their signatures for the paperwork. The judge of course doesn't grant her independent legal status but instead gives split custody back to her birth parents. The show is about the ups and downs of trying to become a family and deal with life's unexpected (hence the title, “Life Unexpected”).
There were a lot of funny moments in this series, particularly coming from Baze, the dad. He was the ever popular highschool quarterback who got Cate- the mom- pregnant in highschool after a one night stand. The two hadn't talked since that night until Lux shows up at their doorsteps. So of course there was a lot of unsaid and unfinished business between those two. While a chunk of it was serious and emotional, much of it was really funny. The two parents constantly bantered back and forth, especially at first when they were fighting for Lux's affection.
I had mixed feelings about the whole foster care theme of the show though. I liked parts of it, for example Lux's caseworker who genuinely cared about her. But I also know that it was totally unrealistic, and being the realist that I am it was sometimes a struggle to watch episodes that had lots of the foster care stuff in it. In reality, there would never be just one caseworker for a kid. Caseworkers come and go constantly, and the majority could care less about the kids. I'm not sure what caseworker in real life would recommend giving custody to a dad who lives in the bar he owns. Surely there's a law about minors being around all that alcohol...anyways...enough of being a spoil sport.
Lux's birth mom, Cate Cassidy, is a radio cohost with her fiance Ryan Thomas. They have a lot of relationship issues from the moment Baze and Lux come into their picture. There was constant drama between Cate and Ryan because of Baze. Some of it got a little redundant in the first season, because after a while I found myself thinking, “Come on, Cate! He is the perfect guy! Just appreciate it!” But, naturally, Cate is conflicted about her feelings for Baze.
Although these relationship conflicts made for perfect drama, looking back I realize it is a total bad example to viewers. The show pretty much gave the message that lying is normal in relationships, it's okay to explore feelings for another person after you've already gotten married, and sex fixes everything. Instead of being honest and having healthy communication, every single one of the main characters lied and constantly tried to cover up things. But, on the other hand, it showed Lux that no family is perfect, and that's okay. Being in the foster system her whole life, she'd naturally dreamt of the perfect parents. Parenting isn't easy, especially co-parenting. So I did like that part of the message.
All of the characters did an amazing job at their roles. There wasn't one character of mediocre status. Everyone embraced their character and personality perfectly. I did have a bit of trouble accepting Ryan though (played by Kerr Smith). He did a great job at playing Ryan, but I watched the entire series of “Dawson's Creek” so I will forever see him as the gay football player. It was hard to picture him with Cate and being the step-dad type. But if you've never been a “Dawson's Creek” fan then you're in luck- you'll love him! Oh, and I can't forget Tasha. She's Lux's best friend, played by Ksenia Solo, and she's a character that everyone will fall in love with. Despite the good fortune of her best friend, Tasha doesn't get jealous. She supports Lux and it's fun to watch their antics throughout the show.
This show was filled with heartwarming moments and I loved watching Lux's affection for her parents grow in a natural way. The humor was excellent, especially between Baze's roomies (because every show needs guys living together frat-like when they're thirty). I suppose I made a lot of negative points in this review, but it's merely from after thoughts. This show was addicting. I watched it for hours straight some days. It's got the perfect mix of suspense/mystery, secrets, humor, love, drama, family, friends...if you watch it I highly doubt you'll regret it. And the series is relatively short- 2 seasons, each 13 episodes. The ending was what really pushed me to write a review, I think. The final episode gave the series a definite conclusion, which I loved. I hate loose ends, and thankfully this show tied up quite a few. It didn't leave me really wanting more; it almost felt like I had read a really great (long) book. I got my conclusion, and everything felt complete. So give this show a watch. It's worthy of five stars from me!
Here goes.
The show is about Lux, a teenager who was given up at birth and floated around the foster care system her whole life. When she turns sixteen she files for emancipation and meets her birth parents when requesting their signatures for the paperwork. The judge of course doesn't grant her independent legal status but instead gives split custody back to her birth parents. The show is about the ups and downs of trying to become a family and deal with life's unexpected (hence the title, “Life Unexpected”).
There were a lot of funny moments in this series, particularly coming from Baze, the dad. He was the ever popular highschool quarterback who got Cate- the mom- pregnant in highschool after a one night stand. The two hadn't talked since that night until Lux shows up at their doorsteps. So of course there was a lot of unsaid and unfinished business between those two. While a chunk of it was serious and emotional, much of it was really funny. The two parents constantly bantered back and forth, especially at first when they were fighting for Lux's affection.
I had mixed feelings about the whole foster care theme of the show though. I liked parts of it, for example Lux's caseworker who genuinely cared about her. But I also know that it was totally unrealistic, and being the realist that I am it was sometimes a struggle to watch episodes that had lots of the foster care stuff in it. In reality, there would never be just one caseworker for a kid. Caseworkers come and go constantly, and the majority could care less about the kids. I'm not sure what caseworker in real life would recommend giving custody to a dad who lives in the bar he owns. Surely there's a law about minors being around all that alcohol...anyways...enough of being a spoil sport.
Lux's birth mom, Cate Cassidy, is a radio cohost with her fiance Ryan Thomas. They have a lot of relationship issues from the moment Baze and Lux come into their picture. There was constant drama between Cate and Ryan because of Baze. Some of it got a little redundant in the first season, because after a while I found myself thinking, “Come on, Cate! He is the perfect guy! Just appreciate it!” But, naturally, Cate is conflicted about her feelings for Baze.
Although these relationship conflicts made for perfect drama, looking back I realize it is a total bad example to viewers. The show pretty much gave the message that lying is normal in relationships, it's okay to explore feelings for another person after you've already gotten married, and sex fixes everything. Instead of being honest and having healthy communication, every single one of the main characters lied and constantly tried to cover up things. But, on the other hand, it showed Lux that no family is perfect, and that's okay. Being in the foster system her whole life, she'd naturally dreamt of the perfect parents. Parenting isn't easy, especially co-parenting. So I did like that part of the message.
All of the characters did an amazing job at their roles. There wasn't one character of mediocre status. Everyone embraced their character and personality perfectly. I did have a bit of trouble accepting Ryan though (played by Kerr Smith). He did a great job at playing Ryan, but I watched the entire series of “Dawson's Creek” so I will forever see him as the gay football player. It was hard to picture him with Cate and being the step-dad type. But if you've never been a “Dawson's Creek” fan then you're in luck- you'll love him! Oh, and I can't forget Tasha. She's Lux's best friend, played by Ksenia Solo, and she's a character that everyone will fall in love with. Despite the good fortune of her best friend, Tasha doesn't get jealous. She supports Lux and it's fun to watch their antics throughout the show.
This show was filled with heartwarming moments and I loved watching Lux's affection for her parents grow in a natural way. The humor was excellent, especially between Baze's roomies (because every show needs guys living together frat-like when they're thirty). I suppose I made a lot of negative points in this review, but it's merely from after thoughts. This show was addicting. I watched it for hours straight some days. It's got the perfect mix of suspense/mystery, secrets, humor, love, drama, family, friends...if you watch it I highly doubt you'll regret it. And the series is relatively short- 2 seasons, each 13 episodes. The ending was what really pushed me to write a review, I think. The final episode gave the series a definite conclusion, which I loved. I hate loose ends, and thankfully this show tied up quite a few. It didn't leave me really wanting more; it almost felt like I had read a really great (long) book. I got my conclusion, and everything felt complete. So give this show a watch. It's worthy of five stars from me!
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Created by: Liz Tigelaar
Genre: Family/Teen drama
Stars:
(C) A.greenlaw 2015
Genre: Family/Teen drama
Stars:
(C) A.greenlaw 2015
© 2015 - 2024 fotomademoiselle
Comments4
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I remember when it first came out and I was really exited to watch it. After awhile of watching it, I just got annoyed with Lux, and the drama was a bit too much more me, (the lying, half truths from everyone really got on my nerves.) so I kind of stopped watching it, a few weeks ago I started watching it again with my siblings and we all agreed that we were all annoyed with the characters, so we stopped watching it. This is a really good review though, there was a lot of funny parts and it does show that no family is perfect 
It's cool to hear what others think about tv shows, so thank you sharing 
It's cool to hear what others think about tv shows, so thank you sharing