If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall at a party, then chances are that We Are Who We Are Season 1 Episode 4 was the installment you’ve been waiting for.
Unfortunately, it took a style over substance approach, resulting in the weakest outing to date.
The entire group of friends were at odds on We Are Who We Are Season 1 Episode 3, so it was quite the surprise to have them uniting for the party and mostly getting along.
In hindsight, teenagers do fall out with their friends often. They’re fickle. The people that bother them one day can be their best friend the next.
It may seem strange later in life, but the biggest flaw that plagued the installment was the lack of depth for the characters.
Yes, there was a visible struggle, but the only character that truly resonated with me was Danny, someone who has clearly been on the brink of destruction for a while now.
He has a lot of anger that he doles out on those around him, but he was trying to be a better person throughout “Right Here, Right Now #4.”
His inhibitions were lowered thanks to the alcohol, and that explains why he was happy to go along with getting up close and personal with the two older girls at the party.
Before drinking the alcohol, he was detached from the scenario and visibly reflecting on everything that happened to him.
He was losing one of the only people that truly understood him as a result of Sarah’s decision to deploy the troops early.
Indeed, there will be a backlash to that decision, largely because the troops were not ready to be deployed, and I dare say that will only lead to more conflict for Fraser and the other teens.
Fraser is a bit of a closed book. He enjoyed the party, but he didn’t seem to enjoy the attention he was getting from the girl.
Everywhere he walked, she was waiting, and Fraser looked terrified more than anything. Maybe that explains why Harper helped out at one point.
Did she understand her friend was not ready to get intimate with someone, or was she merely keeping Fraser around to keep up the ruse that the two of them are an item?
Harper looked jealous when Britney was getting close to her ex-boyfriend, and the whole scenario is unfortunate, to say the least.
They were good friends at one point, but they appear to be on the outs now. I’m not sure why Harper is jealous or if she is merely upset at Britney for breaking some sort of friend code.
The best course of action would be for the two teens to speak about their issues with one another, but they’re teenagers. They act first and think later.
Sam has been a bit all over the place after the breakdown of his relationship with Harper. Losing his brother for multiple years right after the demise of his relationship with his girlfriend may be too much for him to handle.
He hates Fraser because he thinks the new kid is the disruptor that accelerated the end of his relationship.
I appreciated that Fraser extended the olive branch by helping Sam vomit after their binge drinking. Sam recognizes there is something off about how close Fraser and Harper are, and there’s little doubt he will be shocked when Harper reveals the truth to him.
Craig getting married before deployment came out of nowhere, and the flaw here is the severe lack of development for the character.
It’s difficult to care about someone who has spent the early episodes on the periphery. Yes, he wanted to make sure his girlfriend was there for him when he returned, but maybe there was another, more constructive way to handle it.
The group has been splintering for a while now, and I reckon Craig being away will accelerate that. When or if Craig returns, he would be wise to expect different dynamics among his social circle.
We also don’t know whether his new wife will wait for him. Without developing these characters, it’s tough to get a read on them.
Credit where credit is due, though, the episode did something different. Unfortunately, the execution of it was not up to scratch.
It’s a real shame because the series has been delivering a good amount of storylines about a group of people putting up with the trials and tribulations of being a teenager in today’s world.
But they’re not just any teenagers. They are bonded because they have been ripped from their home country to be close to their parents who are in the armed forces.
With four episodes remaining, there’s no telling whether the series will be able to pick up the pace again.
There is always hope.
What did you think of the over-extended party? Do you think it was a successful way to tell the story? Do you class Harper and Fraser as an item now, or are they merely helping each other?
Hit the comments below.
We Are Who We Are airs Mondays on HBO at 10/9c.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.