Before watching First Kill, it seemed like the perfect show to sink your teeth into. After the first three episodes, it’s clear that there are a few flaws in what could’ve been one of Netflix’s new biggest YA releases. The ideas are all there, but the execution might fall short.
The show focuses on teen vampire Juliette Fairmont (Sarah Catherine Hook, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) and monster hunter Calliope Burns (Imani Lewis, Eighth Grade). Juliette and Calliope debate doing what’s right for their families versus doing what’s right for their hearts as they either fight against their magical abilities – in Juliette’s case – or fight against their attraction – in Calliope’s case. Still, the pair can’t deny that they feel connected, while their families pit them against each other. This is a great recipe for a star-crossed lovers’ tale, and First Kill is yet another new version of Romeo and Juliet, one that draws clear parallels to the old classic.
V. E. Schwab, author of magical tales such as The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Vicious, created this series based on her short story of the same title. Knowing this, it definitely sets the viewer up for a wild fantasy adventure, similar to Schwab’s works in the past. At times, this series pulls this off, with extravagant vampire ceremonies for the most revered vampires, known as “Legacies,” or exciting monster chases for families who are in the elite monster hunting force, known as “The Guild.”
This is a really fun, supernatural show on the surface, one that might’ve honestly found its home on another network like The CW or even Freeform, like Shadowhunters. There is a lot of drama, complicated family relations, hard-to-disobey parents, and interesting perspectives from each side on what is right. At times, there are impossible situations that it seems our protagonists will never escape from, heightening the tension and making them betray their true loves, which is a must for any YA drama. But there are many question marks sprinkled throughout the series.
Is this show amazing? No. The CGI is mostly corny and the effects fall flat. The narration in the character’s minds becomes a little annoying and replaces information we could find out naturally through decent storytelling. The leads do have chemistry, although many of their interactions just seem to be about the fact that one of them is a vampire and the other one is a hunter.
Still, is this show enjoyable? Sure. It’s not every day you get a creative and fresh take on a vampire love story with two women in love. This is something many LGBTQ+ kids wanted growing up with the likes of Twilight or The Vampire Diaries. Of course many of the effects are pretty bad and there’s a bit of cheesiness, but this is what filled the vampire genre for many years. Now there’s finally an LGBTQ+ love story at the center of a fantastical vampire show made for young teens and adults, and it breaks many of the stereotypes common in LGBTQ+ media, for example the presence of homophobic characters.
Still, it makes this writer wish they dedicated more time to the romance and fleshing out the somewhat surface-level storyline because this had the potential to be a great sapphic love story with its own set of interesting vampire lore. If only it was more slow-burn or perhaps less cringy at times, it could have made this series a knockout.
While First Kill is the typical teen vampire drama with some plot holes and a lot of cliches, it is still a teen drama that many people, yours truly included, hoped to see one day. Today is that day, and despite the fact that it’s not the greatest show ever made, it opens the door for more diverse fantasy stories in the years to come.
