Teenage pregnancy is a topic that seems to be the realm of reality TV, not scripted shows. Usually in scripted shows, young mothers are portrayed as either supporting characters or making decidedly bad life choices. It has aired two seasons, with the first season debuting on The CW in the United States, showing us what reality is all about.
BUMP: Stream or skip.
Opening shot: A shot of an Australian seaside town. A teenage girl is in her room, typing on her laptop. She wears a "High School Physics Olympiad" shirt and has numerous awards hanging around her room.
Bottom Line: Olympia 'Oly' Chalmers-Davis (Nathalie Morris) is a brilliant high school senior who probably has OCD. For example, she has to walk down a certain number of stairs to set her day right. She steps into her mother Angie's (Claudia Carvan) dancing to Latin music in her underwear and only Olly is mortified. When Olly can't find an old stuffed animal she wants to use as a "temporary object" to help her with a big presentation at her school, her father Dom (Angus Sampson) sleeps in his boat. she knows that
She works at school, but she went with Angie that day because she wanted to work at home. She meets her best friend Reema (Safia Aline) and complains about how unreasonable Angie is. She also gets a pep talk from her boyfriend Lachie Koh (Peter Thurnwald). However, she went to the bathroom with severe cramps and nausea and felt so sick that an ambulance was called. Both Ollie and Angie are shocked when paramedics tell Ollie she is about to give birth.
Of course, this did not fit Ollie's plan for her life, so she immediately told her parents and her social workers at the hospital, "I won't keep it." But she has to take care of her for 30 days before she can be placed for adoption. , they had made a pact to wait, so he already knows he is not the father. So he is disappointed to learn that she was once with "someone you don't know."
However, it turned out to be persons he knew : Santiago 'Santi' Hernández (Carlos Sanson Jr.), Matthias (Riccardo Cheyhin). Jock Vasquez, who is his son, a soccer coach who is having an affair with Angie.
What reminds you? Prominence It's like watching Gilmore Girls' Lorelei's story. She had Lori while still in high school.
Our take: Created by Karvan and Kelsey Munro, Bump sets up a scenario that looks like we've seen it before But it's actually Rhea: A smart teenage girl who seems to have her life after high school mapped out is turned upside down by a pregnancy. The idea that Ollie's pregnancy was unknown to her until after giving birth — she blamed her weight gain on stress and didn't seem to care about her lack of menstruation — adds a little more element of surprise.
Morris lives in Ollie's tumultuous combo of teenage self-esteem, high intelligence, and the need for order and predictability in life. series.
But Karvan and Munro have built a very interesting world around her Oly, which is well established in her first two episodes. Angie and Cam's marriage went south many years ago, but it's still going on. Becoming a new grandparent brings them together or apart. Then there's Santiago, who actually wants to be involved in her daughter's life. At what point will Olly accept him and how will this affect his relationship with Lachie? All of these questions are interesting enough to keep us on our toes, because we might. It tells a story about an accidental teenage pregnancy that needs to be readjusted and relinquished some of its control, yet accustomed to having a dysfunctional but willing support system to help.
Sex and Skin: There is implied sex, but that's it.
Farewell Shot: In the middle of the night, Olly hears the baby getting a little restless. Her baby wraps her hand around the bassinet as she approaches the bassinet and holds out her finger.
Sleeper Star: Angus Sampson plays Dom's boyish tendencies perfectly, but seems to have plenty of room for Ollie to be there when he needs it .
Most pilot-like line: When Angie tells Dom that the baby has ruined her life along with Ollie's, he is taken aback. "Who do you think will take care of this baby?" she asks him. "She's just a kid. Babies have babies. Olly is 17 and not a baby. She's smart. Maybe Angie should give her more credit than that.
OUR CALL: Stream it Bump treats teenage pregnancy as an extreme life change, but a tragedy for "bad behavior." or punishment. Treating Olly's surprise pregnancy as a fact of life for this girl, it will be interesting to see how she becomes both a mother and a high-achieving student. } Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and technology, but not kidding himself, he's a TV addict. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Salon,RollingStone.comVanityFair.comand Fast Company. I'm here.