Man! Finally had a chance to watch this and haven't read the thread yet but this is going to stay with me for a long time. Amazingly executed with the single shot episodes. Awesome performances. Episode 3 was the best hour of tv I've watched this year. Already sparked healthy conversations with my teen kids. We need more tv like this!

Yesterday in England, two teenagers were stabbed when 50 black youths stormed a primary school event wielding knives

If only they had been given mandatory viewings of Adolescence, they might have all found ways to manage their incel rage pic.twitter.com/Em8EyHZTlo

— Keith Woods (@KeithWoodsYT) March 24, 2025

Clearly those 50 youths are on social media too much. They have all been cyber bullied.

Watched about an episode and a half and saw where this BS was headed

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgdy2nv715o.amp

"Starmer 'worried' about toxic masculinity after Adolescence drama"

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/22/netflix-from-the-police-to-the-prime-minister-how-adolescence-is-making-britain-face-up-to-toxic-masculinity

"From the police to the prime minister: how Adolescence is making Britain face up to toxic masculinity"

Came here to read some reviews of the show. Man, was not expecting it to go off the rails like it did here.

Just finished it tonight. Overall, I found it worth the watch. Episode 2 was a little over the top I thought.

I'm not gonna lie. As the father of 2 (now grown) boys, I had tears in my eyes in that very last scene. The anguish that dad was feeling. I'm so glad my kids were mostly out of their teen years when the social media boom began.

Duckhook said:

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Came here to read some reviews of the show. Man, was not expecting it to go off the rails like it did here.

Just finished it tonight. Overall, I found it worth the watch. Episode 2 was a little over the top I thought.

I'm not gonna lie. As the father of 2 (now grown) boys, I had tears in my eyes in that very last scene. The anguish that dad was feeling. I'm so glad my kids were mostly out of their teen years when the social media boom began.

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So originally, As a father myself, I thought the point of the show was to put the viewer through the emotions that the parents were going through, and I thought it was clever. I can't think of any show that has done that. The closest I can think of was a documentary that focused on the mother of Dylan Klebold. But that was after the fact. That wasn't showing the parents realizing what their son had done in real time.

Like the father, I assumed at first that he had to be innocent. Even after they showed the video, I was making excuses in my mind like "maybe somebody else was wearing similar clothing!", "can you see his FACE in that video?", and "did he STAB her there? Or was that just him punching?" Even after he said the thing about having a knife in episode 3, I was thinking maybe his friend (that jumped out of the window) took the knife and killed her. Like the dad, it wasn't until the last episode that I accepted the reality.

The only thing I think I would have done differently as a parent in episode 4 was to tell my son to immediately stop talking on the phone and to arrange a meeting with him and their lawyer. And in that meeting I would ask him, "did you really do it?" But clearly the show didn't have time for any of that. I came away thinking the show did a good job.



Then I read about how the "real point" according to the producers was "toxic masculinity" and all of that nonsense. Now I realize that they totally failed in their goal. That their attempts to get the point across didn't work at all. That the show was only good from my previous perspective by complete accident. The show has completely fallen in my view of it. The only other show that has done that based on producer comments outside the show is the Sopranos. I thought the ending was meh, but fine. Then I heard Chase "explain" it, and it made me realize he had no actual plan there. It took that show from #1 at the time (prior to me watching other shows that are better) to way down my personal rankings.

So is there a huge problem in the UK with white boys attacking girls? Is this a global problem as noted several times in this thread?

There is a huge problem with men attacking young girls in the UK, but it's not white men. As others have mentioned, the UK and Europe have a massive immigration problem. People who do not share the same values, and don't care to assimilate. Gonna be hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

ETA learning about the producers actual "message" also ruined it for me, and the way the UK government ran with it as their biggest current issue made me laugh. Toxic masculinity is not their issue, and never has been.

NukeAg10 said:

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There is a huge problem with men attacking young girls in the UK, but it's not white men. As others have mentioned, the UK and Europe have a massive immigration problem. People who do not share the same values, and don't care to assimilate. Gonna be hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

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I am well aware of that. I have seen it firsthand in the UK and France. I will be in Germany in a few weeks and I am sure I will notice there too.

The implication by a couple of posters is that this series is not about race, ethnicity, or immigration. It's about social media bullying of young males, leading to "toxic masculinity" which can manifest itself into physical violence against girls. Further that this is a very serious and "global" problem.

So I ask again, is it? And if this violence against women is a serious problem (and yes I know it is in Western Europe) who is committing the violence and is there evidence it is a biproduct of social media/bullying?

This show was very well done. The family were all excellent actors. The last scene was so very well done. They should win Emmys for sure

Some brilliant work planning and shooting the story.

It did expose the fundamental flaw in the technique - too much "shoe leather" in transitions makes it boring at times.

The true value of this project will be that is documents British (and Western Civilizations) navel gazing while the world crumbles around them but it would be too impolite to notice why.

aTmAg said:

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"toxic masculinity"

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Good lord, I hope this stupid phrase dies a horrible painful death ASAP. So sick of it. Masculinity helps raise strong, stable confident children...keeps neighborhoods and communities safe and from falling apart...builds EVERYTHING around us that we take advantage on a daily basis, roofs your house, makes your car, fixes your car...we could go on and on and on.

Such a stupid buzz phrase.

I'm so tired of the grievance queens.

I watched the show. Incredibly well done. Incredibly sad. The message i got from it was, be involved with your kids, and try to shield them from the toxic **** on the internet. I agree.

I agree too, which is why my kids don't get unfettered access to the Internet, but that is not the issue Britain is having right now, which makes the governments obsession with this comical. Hell, Starmer banned ninja swords this week. Absolutely laughable. They will do anything to avoid facing the actual problems they are having.

schmendeler said:

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I'm so tired of the grievance queens.

I watched the show. Incredibly well done. Incredibly sad. The message i got from it was, be involved with your kids, and try to shield them from the toxic **** on the internet. I agree.

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This was my takeaway from the show after watching. Incredibly well done.

What I've now read from the producer makes me roll my eyes but it doesn't change the quality of the show for me or necessarily even how I interpreted it. It may not be the main issue in England (or the world) but it's a very big problem. Unfettered access to the internet. Toxic social media. Parents who don't understand their kids/afraid to say no to their desires. Disruptive kids with no respect for authority.

These are all very legitimate issues and huge societal problems.

El Gallo Blanco said:

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aTmAg said:

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"toxic masculinity"

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Good lord, I hope this stupid phrase dies a horrible painful death ASAP. So sick of it. Masculinity helps raise strong, stable confident children...keeps neighborhoods and communities safe and from falling apart...builds EVERYTHING around us that we take advantage on a daily basis, roofs your house, makes your car, fixes your car...we could go on and on and on.

Such a stupid buzz phrase.

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masculinity != toxic masculinity

i didnt realize chronically online WHITE incels with ninja swords are what are causing unmitigated chaos, rape gangs, rampant crime, and murder throughout the United Kingdom

Thanks Netflix.

At least we know the bobby's will be nice to your grandma when they arrest her for noticing things and commenting on facebook.

Watched the whole thing

I thought it was incredibly boring.... I kept waiting for some sort of plot revelation but it was dull the whole way


Hadnt heard that the true story was a migrant who did the killing until reading this thread.... that plot would've made a lot more sense

Pichael Thompson said:

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Watched the whole thing

I thought it was incredibly boring.... I kept waiting for some sort of plot revelation but it was dull the whole way


Hadnt heard that the true story was a migrant who did the killing until reading this thread.... that plot would've made a lot more sense

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You haven't heard that because it isn't true.

javajaws said:

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El Gallo Blanco said:

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aTmAg said:

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"toxic masculinity"

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Good lord, I hope this stupid phrase dies a horrible painful death ASAP. So sick of it. Masculinity helps raise strong, stable confident children...keeps neighborhoods and communities safe and from falling apart...builds EVERYTHING around us that we take advantage on a daily basis, roofs your house, makes your car, fixes your car...we could go on and on and on.

Such a stupid buzz phrase.

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masculinity != toxic masculinity

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WTH is "toxic masculinity"? It's whatever some angry hardcore feminist who went $180k in debt for a useless liberal arts degree says it is lol.

pagerman @ work said:

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Pichael Thompson said:

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Watched the whole thing

I thought it was incredibly boring.... I kept waiting for some sort of plot revelation but it was dull the whole way


Hadnt heard that the true story was a migrant who did the killing until reading this thread.... that plot would've made a lot more sense

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You haven't heard that because it isn't true.

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Can we all agree that it would at least be FARRR more realistic if so though? Like way, way more realistic? And that it is glaringly obvious why they went with this angle? And that there is no way their politicians would be recommending mandatory or widescale viewing of this if it had stuck to a more realistic script (a much, much more realistic one)?

El Gallo Blanco said:

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javajaws said:

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El Gallo Blanco said:

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aTmAg said:

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"toxic masculinity"

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Good lord, I hope this stupid phrase dies a horrible painful death ASAP. So sick of it. Masculinity helps raise strong, stable confident children...keeps neighborhoods and communities safe and from falling apart...builds EVERYTHING around us that we take advantage on a daily basis, roofs your house, makes your car, fixes your car...we could go on and on and on.

Such a stupid buzz phrase.

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masculinity != toxic masculinity

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WTH is "toxic masculinity"? It's whatever some angry hardcore feminist who went $180k in debt for a useless liberal arts degree says it is lol.

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Google Andrew Tate

Well now I realize that reading any of the other comments before finishing the show wouldn't have mattered much as most had little to do with the actual show.

schmendeler said:

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I'm so tired of the grievance queens.

I watched the show. Incredibly well done. Incredibly sad. The message i got from it was, be involved with your kids, and try to shield them from the toxic **** on the internet. I agree.

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This is where I landed as well, and having worked with youth groups I've seen some similar things before.

As a dad to young kids this was a tough watch, that last scene was heartbreaking.

If your kid is getting radicalized by Andrew Tate then your kid is an idiot and you're a bad parent.

Good thing there are no idiot kids with bad parents out there