Now I will be the first to tell you that I am a huge fan of Famous in Love. I don’t do the reviews for it normally, but am taking care of the first 3 weeks, as our normal writer is finishing school. So please know that we may do a 180 with what we think. We may stick to my thoughts. Who knows.
But what I do know is that you can tell that Rebecca Serle wasn’t on set and she wasn’t as involved, and quite honestly, you’ve made a huge mistake Freeform. You took a great story, a captivating love story, an interesting look into Hollywood, and you’ve made it into something I don’t recognize.
When will people learn – it’s not about changing it. That’s gonna happen. It’s about changing it in a way that people can still relate to. The author knows their fandom and Freeform still seems to take for granted that the author is important.
And it scares me.
Now, I will be the first to tell you that I want Famous in Love to be successful and I want it to grow. I was always excited watching it previously. But, the two hour premiere fell flat to me.
Why?
Because I didn’t recognize the characters that I grew to love, but felt like I had to get to know them again. And sure, I get that people evolve, but LORD, no one evolves that much in two months.
It just felt like a completely different show. One where Hollywood took the source material and threw the book out the window or set it on fire.
And that saddens me.
But I hope with all my heart that as we go past the premiere, that the show finds its way back on track. I know that some of you will think that it’s because my ship didn’t happen. I get it – she didn’t choose Rainer – but that’s not it. I am in this for the long haul and I know that ships right now, don’t mean tomorrow. It’s too soon to get that involved and for it to be all about that.
It’s literally about the too fast paced storyline, the way that it seemed to have to many holes in it, the way that Paige has suddenly become unrecognizable (she seems a little out of sorts and weak, versus the strong ass woman we left her as), the way that it seems like the first season didn’t matter.
But all that being said, I have been thinking about how to break it down. I could recap the story, but to be honest – I don’t think that’s the best way to take it. Most likely, if you’re reading this – you’ve seen the episode. So I am breaking it down by the good, the bad, and the WTF.
THE GOOD
- We finally got to find out who Paige chose.
- Danielle Campbell was added to the cast and we love seeing her playing someone different.
- Bella Thorne continues to be magic.
- Carter Jenkins felt as though his acting had grown and progressed beyond the same old thing, but rather there was diversity to his character and range.
- Drama, Drama, Drama… we love lots of drama.
- We’ve finally gotten back to LOCKED
THE BAD
- We finally got to see who Paige chose.
- There were multiple wholes in the storyline, which sure, may be picked up in flashbacks, but when you leave on such a big cliffhanger, giving us nothing and advancing without us seeing what happened feels wrong.
- There was such a disconnect between the book and the essence of the characters.
- The way that Rainer’s rehab seemed to be centered around his sexuality than anything, and that was frustrating. It’s a serious issue and it made it feel as though his alcoholism wasn’t taken seriously.
- Jakes movie didn’t matter as much to me, I fell for Famous in Love because of Locked. I don’t care about the other stuff until we have that and I felt like they were trying to take away from the book and the reason that so many people fell in love with it.
THE WTF
- Alexis with a reality TV show and Tangey’s Mom managing her? Umm… Ok.
- The time jump. Look, here’s the thing. A fan is going to to want to know what happened from that exact moment at the press conference. We didn’t need a time jump, we needed it to pick up right where it was. We wanted to see them go through their crap. Not the aftermath of it. Give me all the drama, don’t pick and choose it.
- The shoot inside the house… it’s not plausible.
- The waitress – what does she matter? Why does this matter?
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Jakes Movie: So while Locked has been shut down, Paige has been filming Jakes movie. And while that’s great – because an actress should be working. I think the thing I get lost at with this is that we haven’t even seen enough of LOCKED, which is what we want to see. I get that in Hollywood people help each other – thats how a lot of people work. But, don’t think that Paige’s agents wouldn’t have been on top of her and known that she was not supposed to be filming.
When Locked goes back into production, Nina makes sure that Paige knows that she can’t do both and when she tries to find a solution – she ends up firing her agents. But ultimately, she hires the only female agent that showed up.
Jakes movie will go on and that’s great. But I’m hoping that what it does is take Paige and Jake on different paths. They are too convenient and to be honest, something is going to change Paige, you wait and see. She’s choosing what she thinks she needs. At least that’s the impression I am getting.
Alexis’s TV Show: Now I know that loyalty is fleeting in the world, but Alexis is working with Tangey’s Mom on a reality show. Sure, up your star power Alexis, but umm.. are you really resorting to some D list TV?
There is nothing in Alexis’s life that is off limits and she doesn’t realize just how detrimental that can be. She trusted Tangey’s Mom – like an idiot – and lets it be known that Nina started sleeping with Jordan when he was 16. Things are about to blow up!
Nina is having nothing to do with it and when they announce that Locked is coming back and they are having the cast talk about it – she doesn’t let Alexis in with her cameras.
New Girl, New Rainer: We like that Rainer is moving on, but we don’t like that it’s in rehab. Makes us feel like he’s not taking his situation seriously.
Rainer isn’t speaking to his mom – which – can’t blame him. She lied. He is speaking to his new found Dad. It takes him awhile to be convinced to to go back to Locked and he’s distant and whatever.
Rainer has had his heart broken and his life turned upside down, I can’t blame him for going the exact opposite and embracing the “bad boy” act. However, I miss the Rainer that I thought I knew.
Locked: Locked is going to start filming, which we’re good with. We’re excited to see what happens. We need to know how this cast either comes together or either finds their way to new projects. But what we want to see is the phenomenon around Locked. Want to see the fans, the fandom, the glitz, the glammer, the crazy. What this show has yet to do is embrace or address fandom and I feel that is doing it a disservice.
Overall the Famous in Love premiere underwhelmed us and we’re hoping that doesn’t last. We’re obsessed with the 1st season and the books.
Just not what we were given here.
Famous in Love airs Wednesdays on Freeform.
