The Body Season 1 Review: A Sinfully Fun Teen Drama

(The Body Season 1 spoilers ahead!)

The Body Season 1 is what happens when you mix all the messy goodness of a teen drama with just enough mystery, some fun early 2000s throwbacks, and what I’ll go ahead and call fluid amounts of religious dogma. It’s a little bit Mean Girls—in fact, there’s a scene in there somewhere that is a very, very obvious tribute—with a hefty helping of mass hysteria started and perpetuated by the teen girl hive mind. And, although the series doesn’t really live in the horror genre, there are, nevertheless, some really fun shots and more than a few situations where it feels like maybe, just maybe, something spooky could be waiting just around the corner. Or, perhaps, some kind of God is watching over all the nonsense, performing miracles through a fallen teammate. Who can really say?

Set at a Catholic school, with the arrival of a new family that instantly gives “creepy cult members” shaking things up, the series follows the St. Mark’s Lions dance team after their Halloween-party-slash-initiation (slash “joke” of a ritual sacrifice) goes horribly wrong. Wrong and weird. Something happens to Grace Franklin (Sofia Wyle) at that party. But even the two people who know the most—creepy new girl Lisbeth Anderson (Geena Meszaros) and team captain Anya Butler (Kristina Bogic)—don’t really know much at all. What they do know is their lives are basically over if anyone finds out what they were up to at “Devil’s House.” And then, there’s the panic-fueled scramble to take Grace home. Definitely can’t tell anyone about that.

So, in an effort to cover up some definitely illegal activity, they start keeping secrets. Those secrets spiral out of control, sometimes deliberately, and the end result is eight episodes that may start off a little slow as the premiere sets everything up but then become batsh** in the best way. Further complicating matters, Lisbeth convinces Anya they can’t tell the team—and no, she can’t even share with her co-captain/best friend/something more Elise (Sara Boustany). But the team knows Anya and knows something’s off about her suddenly being besties with the new girl. (Not to mention, she’s kind of breaking Elise’s heart in more ways than one). So, clearly, that means an even more tangled web of lies, one that is enough to make even audience members in on the whole thing wonder “what if.”

So, again, the only way I know to explain it is to say it’s messy…but so, so, so much fun.

Standout performances

In order to make the insanity that is The Body Season 1 work, you need a strong cast. And this series has exactly that. Meszaros is so convincing that when Lisbeth starts manipulating everyone’s guilt, fear, and desire to be “in” into this big, spiritual myth, it’s easy to go along with it all and wonder “but what if she’s right.” Even in the face of plenty of evidence that she’s just doing whatever it takes to be part of the “in” crowd herself…and save her own a**. Similarly, although she’s definitely the villain more often than not, it’s difficult not to feel for her when you see how she struggles with her home life or when she’s adorably clueless (and terrible) during her dance team audition.

The other major outsiders in this story is Lisbeth’s brother Leo and their religious fanatic mother. For her part, Louisa Krause’s Catherine could very well give Margaret White a run for her money…when she’s not busy sitting at home, watching the same grainy tape of her late husband and “anointed” daughter for the bazillionth time, that is. Then, there’s Leo. As a surprise to no one who’s seen The Pitt, Jackson Kelly is excellent as the guy everyone assumes is a creep, yet is actually something entirely different. As Lisbeth says at one point, Leo’s gentle. The problem is his lack of social skills, his faith in Grace, and his disturbing artistic talents all set him up to be an easy target. When he breaks down, sobbing and says he deserves all the pain others are putting him through, it lands. Hard.

There’s another family at the heart of The Body Season 1—Grace Franklin’s. Her uncle, Father Samuel (Nnamdi Asomugha) struggles to make sense of it all. How can he reconcile his faith with first everyone at school, then the whole town, believing in a miracle that he…doesn’t? And when it comes time to figure things out, the difficulty Sam has with figuring out what’s right is palpable. “Crisis of faith” doesn’t even begin to explain it.

On the flip side, Grace’s father, Michael (Motell Gyn Foster) is frustrated, and desperate, and doesn’t seem to believe in much of anything at all…until, suddenly, he kinda does. Foster’s best scenes are the ones most grounded in reality. They’re the ones where he’s just a dad, sitting vigil, willing his daughter to wake up and be ok. Although we don’t spend much time with the real Grace before it all goes to Hell—only metaphorically…I think—Wyle is the perfect opposite of Meszaros in the team audition scene, kind of a ray of sunshine overall, and something fascinatingly intense every time she appears in other characters’ visions.

With all of that being said, the true stars of this series are Boustany, Bogic, and their chemistry. Yes, I’m calling chemistry a star. Why? Well, first of all, because I can. And second, it really does feel like that chemistry is an additional presence every time they’re around each other.

Anya and Elise

Forget all the talk of sinners and spectacles, all Lisbeth’s scheming, and even all the nonsense the girls make up just to feel like they, too, are special enough for Grace to love them (yet normal enough to fit in with everyone else). Because, even if you cut all of that away, The Body Season 1 is worth a watch. Why? In the first place, Sara Boustany has this undeniable charisma that makes it impossible to look away from her. As the Slutty Devil to Anya’s Slutty Angel (in a series premiere called “Slutty God,” no less) Elise may as well be the center of this universe. It’s fitting, seeing as how Anya’s technically “main” character, and Elise is the center of her world, that sinful temptation she simply can’t escape no matter how hard she tries.

…if Elise happens to try to seduce someone else to get dirt on her girl’s inexplicable new BFF and recent wave of odd behavior, well, she’s allowed. But anyway. Back to the point.

Elise and Anya are best friends…who hook up, behind Anya’s boyfriend Steven’s back. We can talk about experimenting, or coming-of-age, or whatever. Certainly, all of those things are part of this story, but Catholic guilt, shame, and just wanting to be “normal” all create the perfect storm for Anya to push Elise away. Over and over, she reels her in just to cast her back out. And every single time Anya rejects Elise, it’s that heartbreak Boustany portrays so beautifully, right before Elise covers it with irritation or anger, that just steals the show.

When it seems like they’re finally making progress…the whole Grace mess blows up in the worst possible way. But oh, the angst is just so good. The same goes for the gazing—like Anya gazing up at Elise with so much openness and naked worship, or the two of them in the afterglow—and, again, I must point to the chemistry.

For a series that’s about all the chaos that erupts after the girls promise Grace’s soul to the Devil in exchange for a Regionals win, The Body isn’t really a dance show. But these two do this dance with each other throughout Season 1. And when they literally dance with each other in Episode 6, it’s brilliant. Theirs isn’t a happy story, but it’s a compelling one. It’s also a real one, given the homophobia rampant in society as a whole and religious circles in particular.

Is it wrong to root for Anya and Elise, given all the lies and cruelty? Probably. But maybe, sometimes, it’s just no fun to be right. Besides, when the cool mom makes one comment that crushes her daughter to smithereens, and when you consider that even with LGBTQ+ rights at risk in recent years, we’re still in a better place than these girls would’ve been 20+ years ago…it’s kind of difficult to blame Anya for even her worst moments.

Throwbacks and more, plus The Body Season 1 reactions

• The youths will never understand the struggle of coming up with a good A.I.M. away message.
• Sarah McLachlan!
• “It’s how I feel when I dance. It’s like the only place I feel like I have control. Or, like, safe to lose control.”
• Hm. Yep. “Breakaway” was totally all over the place in late ’04. Legit.
• Whatever that choreo was to end the first episode, yes. I’m here for it. Ryan Heffington and Josh Lamb, thank you for that.
• The way this series uses the masses and the musical/chanting bits as background noise for some of the more intense, and sometimes eery, moments is so clever.
• If The Body does anything I can’t either get behind or excuse in some way, it’s being kind of flippant about Maddie’s “food stuff” early on and then the bit with Lisbeth exploiting that at Regionals. Too much for me.
• “I mean, like, technically, we have a democratic system.”
• The way I cracked up at Anya lying about Lisbeth’s “good technique” while they watched her doing God knows what on that audition tape…
• “You like girls?” “I just like who I like.” Her name is Anya.
• “You’re out of f**king control, Elise!” “…I’m out of control.” What a delivery.
• Cool AF reflection in that mop water.
• It’s the way Elise shoves that “you’re like my sister” comment from Episode 2 back in Anya’s face in Episode 3 for me. There’s that grudging way she brings up in the locker room showers, and then, um, class.
• “You have laid her naked!!!” …as their mom is literally naked at their school.
• “This is my job, man. This is a school.” “Ohhhh, it’s a…with all due respect, F— your job and F— this school. Grace should be a priority.”
• Ok but this Tyler kid is wildly entertaining. Look at him, melting away in that chair while he feels “connected.” There were so many characters like this in early 2000s teen movies, and Marcel Ruiz manages to embody all of the best parts of them while still bringing something unique to the character.
• “…do sisters live with other sisters?” “Like, who’s the top and who’s the bottom?”
• “Can you turn it off, please?” “No. It’s Kelly Clarkson.”
• “What’s wrong with being a little gay?”
• “That insult feels unrelated to the accusation.”
• This pool scene. OUCH. Just…ouch. And the sort of horrified moment of realization from Steven as he comes to understand that Leo didn’t do anything. Pain.
• “…pretending everything’s ok and you don’t care about me…and I know it’s just no use when all your lies become your truths…” Here we have another throwback! This time, of course, it’s a Michelle Branch song. It’s perfectly timed to fit both the angst of what’s happening between Elise and Anya…and, you know, all the lies about Grace that are starting to take off and become truths.
• That wink to the camera is everything. Obsessed.
• “Cite an example. From the Bible.” Sister DGAF.
• “This is a Catholic school. Aren’t you supposed to believe in this sh**?” Ace of Base, reporting for duty.
• “…like in The Lovely Bones.” “Stop trying to make that book happen.” Reference to a book that was super popular and a “stop trying to make fetch” happen all in one!
• A RAZR PHONE.
• Jealous girlfriend staredown.
• “…and why the F— is she friends with your girlfriend?” See? Everyone knows!
• “Not my fault my body’s allergic to the darn world.” Relatable.
• Mean Girls Mom, reporting for duty.
• These twins are hilarious AF. Put them in everything! Together!
• The AIM alert sound while Anya’s flipping through her yearbook and awkwardly trying to fumble her way toward ecstasy…It’s like this very real struggle of a teen trying to figure it all out, coupled with the most hilariously out of place and appropriately placed throwback. Because, like, yeah. If you stayed online—so, if you were privileged enough to have an extra line and stable connection to keep you on—messages would come at all the worst times. Relentlessly, in this case, with so many people chatting.
• Ahhh, the good ol’ days. When Yahoo! search was so good.
• I could use about 10 more episodes just to work through how Elise just…shrugs off sympathy over her dad’s death like that.
• The Ring!
• THE CRAZY MOM IS PULLING THE PLUG ON GRACE.
• What a shot of her looking on with less than zero remorse, just pure hatred. And that one word—”Devil.” Oof.
• “Yeah. Engage your core. It’s gonna fix everything.” Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by someone making this correction for real.
• Coolest shot ever nominee: The dark smudge of Father Sam in that…eyeball.
• “I don’t think Carrie and her psycho mom are the most reliable—…” Annnnnd thank you to this show for acknowledging that obvious tribute.
• Everything about the way Maddie has her meltdown over all the signs of demonic influence is brilliant. Just excellent stuff from Shirley Chen—especially with how the whole thing builds. Also, “…all of you would know that if any of you gave a sh** to Google it or, like, fu**ing watched The Exorcist!” is kinda giving Randy in the Scream franchise, which is always a win for me.
• Elise is so obviously confused and hurt, but she’s still backing “anything the captain wants.” A real one.
• “Do what you need to do. I’m ordering pizza.” Rooting for you, Grace’s dad. Rooting for you.
• No but seriously, Meszaros is so convincing here, and the mood is set so well for this not-an-exorcism sequence, I almost forgot Lisbeth knew all of that stuff about the other girls because she downloaded and studied their chats.
• “God, I wanna be normal.” That’s it, that’s the show.
• “You’re the f—ing devil, you cult-a** b**ch!” My fave. Easily.
• “What did you do to get the silent treatment?” “I tried to kill Lisbeth, apparently.” “I wish.” You know what? This coach can stay. Sure, she’s kind of an airhead and definitely not supervising this team and all, but like. This was sweet…and kinda mean but, like, in an entertaining way.
• “She’s literally Britney at the VMAs.”
• Gore Lieberman 2000. Always, always, always too soon to bring that up.
• Elise falls first. And, eventually, their separate, halting improv choices sync up. Mmmhm, mmmhm.
• “I miss you.” SOFT.
• They really gave Emily Roman a lot of great one-liners, and every time Claire opens her mouth, they land perfectly.
• The entire sequence with the Regionals dance, while we hear the voiceover of Father Samuel trying to put the breaks on what is obviously a hoax back home, is great. Like, yeah. They did this thing, it got out of their control, and it was all just to be able to go do this thing that makes them feel free.
• …well. At least they put the helpline information at the end. But I still really, really don’t like the ED part. Especially not when Lisbeth claims whatever about not hurting anyone. Like, did you really think convincing this girl to starve herself and relapse wouldn’t cause harm??? Teen girls are terrible, but…
• Season finale: “Coming Out.” Enough said.
• “It is the last hour.”
• “No one’s gonna help us—no one’s ever helped us.” These poor kids. Like, yeah, she’s a monster. But.
• “I guess I did ruin your life then.”
• I’m sorry. She said what now???
• If they give us a second season, there’s a, uh, lot there to unpack. But it’s smart to tend the season where we do. There’s something very “the truth will set you free” about it all, but then, that last line leaves us with just enough “but maybe it was real” to circle back to and play with some more.

What did you think of The Body? Leave us a comment!

The Body Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.