Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Hulu’s new teen soap has been described as The Walking Dead meets The Breakfast Club. Freakish is not that thing. The horror series is what would happen if a nuclear explosion fused YouTube and Vine stars with a CW teen drama from 2005. It’s campy, full of exaggerated teen soap acting, and weirdly delightful to watch.
Created by AwesomenessTV and exclusively distributed by Hulu, Freakish is essentially Hulu’s answer to Netflix’s Degrassi: Next Class. The series follows a group of students who are some of the only survivors after a local chemical plant explodes in their hometown. Can they survive the throngs of mutants, and, more importantly, can they learn to live with each other? What makes the series remarkable is its attempt to blend traditional actors with new media ones. From the world of TV and movies, the Freakish cast includes Leo Howard (Conan the Barbarian), Adam Hicks (Zeke and Luther), Tyler Chase (The Walking Dead), Chad L. Coleman (The Walking Dead), and Mary Mouser (Scandal). Want some social media stars? You’ve got them in Leo Howard, Liza Koshy, Adam Hicks, Aislinn Paul (Heroes Reborn), Megan Rienks, Melvin Greggs, and Hayes Grier. Bustle has created an excellent guide on these recognizable online personalities if you want to do some research.
If Freakish was any other genre, it wouldn’t work. However, because it’s horror, the show’s random acts of dramatization watch as campy rather than cringe-worthy. The show is packed to the brim with long-winded gems such as this: “Hey, you’re that kid who sold your app for $1 million but didn’t share it with the guy you made it with. Asshole.”
That’s a lot of exposition in one breath, but Freakish does not care. Freakish knows what its weird purpose is, and it rushes to deliver over-acting teenagers complaining about their various dramatic relationships and the end of the world. Is it silly and dumb? Yes, certainly. Would I recommend Freakish? With all my heart and soul.
There’s a place out there for dumb, soapy teenage drama. It’s a genre that we all pretend to hate but mysteriously gets stellar ratings and has never once come close to dying. Freakish is the latest incarnation of this hyper-specific trend but with a twist. Because it’s a horror series, there’s always a chance you’ll get to watch your favorite social media stars die or at least be severely traumatized. Isn’t that fun? Not in a cruel way, but there is a sick, twisted part of us that loves to see terrible things happen to famous people. How else would you describe the success of Saw’s many guest cameos or Ryan Murphy’s shows? Fame plus terror equals fun.
Because I can only speak about this show from the experience of a viewer in her mid-20s, I have no idea whether Freakish has succeeded in its attempt to connect with those social media loving teeny-boppers. But I can say this. The series’ young cast does a great job of delivering performances that are just over-acted and soapy enough to watch as fun rather than annoying. No, I really don’t think this show was ever designed with me in mind. However, that will not stop me from enjoying Freakish in all its highly dramatized and mutant-filled glory.
