Unfortunately, unlike Rachel Berry, the action sequences in Daybreak never quite sing. Instead, Daybreak gets mileage out of its willingness to deliver gruesome imagery. Kudos to Rodriguez for her commitment to a truly bizarre role.
Like many previous Netflix series, Daybreak strategically ends episodes on cliffhangers to encourage viewers to autoplay into the next one. Yet while Daybreak is definitely watchable, it feels like binging on a bag of candy.
Daybreak is at its best when the creators lean into their most absurdist impulses. The fifth episode softens the show a bit, as the ragtag group of survivors decide to throw the homecoming dance that was thwarted by the apocalypse. The idea of kids banding together after adults destroyed the world is a much more timely message than any of its s teen-movie throwbacks or Gen Z irreverence. If the rest of the season leans into that direction, Daybreak could potentially emerge with a comedic voice that feels like something more than a pastiche.
The episode first season of Daybreak launches on Netflix on October 24th. Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week. Daybreak is never subtle. As much as the show references pop culture, it also tries to deconstruct it, usually using a jackhammer rather than a more delicate instrument. TV testing says people like a warm blanket of familiarity so they can second-screen their Insta feed.
This is my story now. On the other hand, the fact that Angelica becomes a pint-sized Walter White by distributing edible Slime laced with prescription pills feels very much of the present. Just when Daybreak stretches your patience, it has a way of rebounding with a clever touch or a strong performance that makes you give it more chances. As for Broderick, he seems to relish the opportunity to inhabit a lower-key version of Ed Rooney, the principal obsessed with bringing down Ferris Bueller.
The typical Hollywood "girl next door" — hardly original. She's missing and he is desperate to find her and get their happy-ever-after back on track. We need Angelica, Wesley and the myriad other characters to give the story what Josh's journey for true love does not: something different.
But that pay-off requires sifting through episodes that are too lengthy, stuffed with narrative fluff and character backstories that, while important and welcome, are given too much attention. Sometimes, less is more.
The writing, too, struggles in places. Daybreak desperately wants to make you laugh, and on occasion it does. But that can also have the opposite effect, trying too hard to win your approval. It also wants you to pick up on every single pop-culture reference from Ferris Bueller to Star Wars, which makes it feel frantic and overly ambitious at times. During the series' more profound moments — Sam discusses the demonisation of female sexuality in a world where men are praised for having a vast sexual appetite — the script doesn't do those big statements justice, lacking nuance and a deft touch.
Daybreak will undoubtedly attract a young crowd, but spelling everything out in black and white underestimates their intelligence. Nonetheless, it should be commended for its willingness to tackle a raft of weighty subjects — gender inequality, race, sexuality and identity. This community has geeks, freaks, mean girls, obnoxious boys and, ruling with cruel fists, the jocks. Except the jocks actually do rule, meting out capital punishment on a whim. And these tribes are actual tribes, because school is over.
Things are gonna get messy! Energetic, imaginative, visually bold and yet so, so boring because none of the pyrotechnics are anchored to any logic, Daybreak centres on a classic gang of misfits led by Canadian immigrant Josh Colin Ford.
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