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Teenage Bounty Hunters is like an ’80s comedy movie turned into a 10-part series, which is often a better way to go these days, given that two hours isn’t long enough to tell the whole story, and as the first episode shows, there’s a lot more that you can tell about the relationship between the main characters.
The intro quickly brings us up to speed with high-school girls, Sterling (Maddie Phillips), who’s parked in her car with long-term boyfriend Luke (Spencer House), yet he’s putting a dampner on the evening because he wants to keep his virginty for marriage, and he’s so dumb not to do the business when she’s the hottest girl around… so, it’s a good job she takes the lead.
Meanwhile, her sister, Blair (Anjelica Bette Fellini – The French Dispatch), is also enjoying the pleasure of carnal delights with her man-friend, Jennings (Nicholas Cirillo), and not necessarily boyfriend because she’s not known for going steady with one guy, asking of her latest beau:
- Blair: “Is it better than when you do it with your own hand?”
Jennings: “…No… but it’s cooler, because you have tits”
To which she replies: “That’s so helpful(!)”
However, since they attend a very religious private school full of bible-bashers, there’s no time to repent because they end up in a car crash – and while their vehicle has a huge smack on the front-right bumper, the other car is T-boned on the driver’s side, yet doesn’t have even the slightest dent at what was the point of impact – so, there’s one thing the CGI dept missed out on, unless the preview I was watching wasn’t quite the final programme.
But if you’re not into geek-spotting stuff like that like me, then events quickly more on to them realising the man that they’ve knocked off the road is on the run, and being chased by bounty hunter Bowser (Kadeem Hardison – Beyond Two Souls). The girls’ cocky personality leads to convincing him they’re in the same league, thus find themselves in competition with him, resulting in a ridiculously comedic situation as one ends up on the baddie’s bonnet, while the other’s blasting out his wheels with a shotgun, from a long distance – all leading to them both sharing said bounty.
By day, Bowser manages desert cafe Yogurtopia (even though it’s “Yoghurt” in the UK, but anyway), and we already know what his evening ‘career’ is, so who’s next on the hit list? Well, their next job is a man who is very close to home…
In Teenage Bounty Hunters, the three leads are brilliant in this, bouncing off each other well with other great dialogue, such as when they go into his workplace, saying they need a job, with Bowser replying, “And I need a big house with a white picket fence, and Tawny Kitaen in the back, cooking me up some pancakes”.
Add in the girls having to deal with their school’s Queen Bitch, April Stevens (Devon Hales) and, overall, it’s very daft and silly and I’m looking forward to checking more out; and it makes a change to see a drama where young women aren’t riddled with ridiculous tattoos. Plus, one of the executive producers is Jenji Kohan, creator of Weeds and Orange Is The New Black.
Teenage Bounty Hunters is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from today.
Episodes 1 Score: 8/10
Series Directors: Rebecca Asher, Mark A Burley, Andrew DeYoung, Stephen Falk, Angela Barnes Gomes, Stephanie Laing, Lauren Morelli, Jesse Peretz, Nick Sandow, Diego Velasco
Producers: Arturo Guzman, Aimee Roth
Creator: Kathleen Jordan
Writers: Aziza Barnes, Earl Davis, Tara Herrmann, Zoe Jarman, Megan King Kelly, Shane Kosakowski, Robert Sudduth
Music: Jonathan Sanford
Cast:
Sterling Wesley: Maddie Phillips
Blair Wesley: Anjelica Bette Fellini
Bowser Jenkins: Kadeem Hardison
Debbie Wesley: Virginia Williams
Anderson Wesley: Mackenzie Astin
Yolanda Carrion: Shirley Rumierk
April Stevens: Devon Hales
Luke Creswell: Spencer House
Jennings: Nicholas Cirillo
John Stevens: Pierce Lacket
Hannah B: Charity Cervantes
Miles: Myles Evans
Ezequiel: Eric Graise
Ellen Johnson: Wynn Everett
Cayden: Jason Kehler
Janet: Gabrielle Byndloss
Cathy: Carolyn Jones Ellis
Mrs Jenson: Clarinda Ross
Man #1: John Rymer
Man #2: Estes Tarver
Man #3: Douglas Dickerman
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.