Deadly Class Series Premiere, ‘Reagan Youth’ Plot Summary:
Marcus Lopez Arguello (Benjamin Wadsworth), an orphan with a dark past, receives an invitation to join a boarding school for assassins and murderers. As he struggles to fit in with his classmates, Marcus must discover if he truly is a killer.
At face value, a school for adolescent/young adult killers sounds like a dark, twisted concept with plenty of potential; after all, many fictional universes host violent academies aimed at turning kids into weapons. Deadly Class tries to separate itself from those other institutions, though, by infusing its setting with a sense of fun and style. Sadly, the show’s pilot does not live up to that promise.
Deadly Class is a bleak, shallow ride that owes much to J. K. Rowling and John Hughes, even as the show fails to replicate any of the heart they are known for. The school displayed in ‘Reagan Youth’ shows some flashes of Hogwarts as the episode jumps between the different classes in the curriculum, but the lessons lack depth once the scenes skip past their initial black quirkiness.
Likewise, Marcus’s classmates are little more than an assortment of stereotypes. Each student introduced in the pilot easily falls into one of the racial, ethnic, and clique clichés viewers have come to expect from shows and movies. The cold Russian brute, the street-talking black kid, the Day of the Dead-inspired Mexican beauty, the Asian badass with a hairstreak to prove that she’s cool—the whole gang is here. The cast of character is as lazy as it is shameful.
The strongest element the pilot boasts is plenty of style… to start the episode, at least. For the first twenty minutes, Deadly Class looks and sounds just like an Edgar Wright film; with 80’s music blaring and neon-pink text sliding across the screen, “Reagan Youth” kicks off with a strong aesthetic. The show even includes an animated flashback to flesh out Marcus’ childhood.
Unfortunately, after the 20-minute mark, the episode falls prey to Pilot Syndrome™, in which a new series introduces an interesting visual element early on and promptly forgets to use that element ever again halfway through the first episode. From that point onward, the pilot’s looks as soulless as its characters and plot feel.
Ultimately, that soullessness is what truly sinks Deadly Class. Marcus is on a miserable journey without any flashes of joy, purpose, or excitement, which makes for a slog of a watch. Like the least favorite class of your own education, there is no fun to be had here.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
