Both my emotional bandwidth and patience are hanging from the flimsiest thread at the moment, making it incredibly difficult to watch TV shows that are dramatic for the sake of adding unnecessary tension to move the plot forward. Give me drama and angst, but make it profoundly compelling and innately human. (See Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers.) If there’s one thing I’m avoiding like the plague, it’s teen dramas that utilize tired tropes like the love triangle and bank on characters to be one-dimensional. I’ve been there, done that, and grew up in the era of teen dramas. It’s no longer my brand or cup of tea, save for some exceptions like Heartstopper, Stranger Things, and now Prime Video’s Maxton Hall.
Based on the novels by German author Mona Kasten, Maxton Hall follows a group of students in the titular academy during their senior year, where emotions are heightened and stakes are loftier than ever. As it deals with prejudices regarding social status and secrets creeping through the halls, the series presents an endearing love story between Harriet Herbig-Matten’s Ruby Bell and Damian Hardung’s James Beaufort.
Maxton Hall Is Full of Teenage Angst, But the Romance Is Worth It
Maxton Hall is no exception to teenage angst. It’s significantly less wholesome than Heartstopper, and there are beats of immaturity at the beginning that make it hard to stick around. (Give it three episodes—trust me.) I was very much ready to put the show behind me until the third episode charms its way into the heart with the most trope-filled episode. It then makes it easier to invest in the primary love story the series shows us, giving viewers a better understanding of where the characters are coming from.
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It’s the kind of episode that ensures that even while the series might feature irritating beats of see-sawing back-and-forth dynamics, the characterizations are compelling enough to make the series enjoyable. Where Ruby and James begin the season, and where they end up are in two very different places that feel earned. And that detail of feeling earned is often challenging to nail these days on television. But Prime Video is at the top of the game, cementing riveting romantic dynamics in My Lady Jane, too.
The characters are bound to evolve, make mistakes, and do things that will irritate the audience to no end, but the journey establishes a clear romantic relationship that writers are setting up to last. It feels a little reminiscent of the One Tree Hill days where even when Nathan Scott and Haley James broke up, we knew with utmost certainty that they’d find their way back to each other.
Maxton Hall is certainly not at that level yet, and we don’t need nine seasons of any show, ever, if we’re being frank, but it’s a promising start that features a thrilling love story at the height of teenage turmoils. The series isn’t afraid to explore darker traumas that make the characters feel more complex and understandable. We get an unmistakable sense of why they both behave the way they do, and we understand why it’s vital for them to feel something beyond the heartaches in their lives.
More importantly, in the last episode, viewers have the chance to hear them talk about the things that matter, which will, in turn, strengthen them individually as characters. So often, TV shows forgo meaningful conversations in service of plot-driven scenarios instead, but we see enough with Ruby and James to get pieces of them that allow them to be more nuanced and complex. There’s a high chance the show will get even more heartbreaking as the seasons go on. Yet, with the dynamic chemistry and beats of vulnerability already present, the wild ride we’ll venture on will provide us with a solid romantic journey. And really, isn’t that what we all just want on our TV? Good romances? It’s certainly what I want.
Maxton Hall is now streaming on Prime Video.
First Featured Image | Official Poster Credit: ©Prime Video