Heathers Review: Wickedly Witty, Paramount Network’s Reboot Is Killer
Dear diary, color me impressed. As a huge fan of 1989’s Heathers, I sat down to watch the first five episodes of Paramount (fka Spike TV) Network’s reboot fully expecting to pull a muscle from rolling my eyes so hard and so often. Instead, version 2.0 of the black comedy made me feel like I’d had a brain tumor for brunch for ever having doubted the potential of the anthology series (premiering Wednesday, March 7, at 10/9c).
Heathers does what I imagined — no, make that what I was positive — was impossible. On one hand, it pays enough homage to the original to make its aficionados howl with delight. Not only does it include and/or paraphrase classic lines from the movie, it tosses in visual nods to the feature that are flat-out brilliant, whether subtle (check out Westerberg High’s vending-machine selections in the pilot) or not (an oversized container of hull cleaner features prominently in an art show).
On the other hand, the reboot updates and expands on the film’s premise, and has built in enough gasp-worthy shocks to leave on the edge of our seats even those of us who could tell you which of the original Heathers asked, “Why are you pulling my d—k?” Best of all, the deviations from the movie aren’t merely rendered with the same blistering tone that made the flick iconic (although, thankfully, the dialogue remains as brutal as it is witty). On the contrary, the changes bestow upon the Heathers a depth that — and I feel blasphemous for typing the words — their predecessors lacked.
In the small-screen adaptation, Heather Chandler (Melanie Field in a star-is-born performance) is an ultra-PC mean girl who fancies herself a good witch. (Spoiler alert: She ain’t.) In addition to long-suffering sidekicks Heath(er) Duke (Brendan Scannell) and Heather McNamara (Jasmine Mathews), the alpha female’s entourage includes Veronica Sawyer (Under the Dome’s Grace Victoria Cox), who, as in the movie, finds herself drawn into a relationship with unstable JD (James Scully).
If there’s a problem with the show, I’m afraid JD is it. Scully seems like a fine actor, but this take on the character is so muted, especially at first, that he all but vanishes in the shadow of Christian Slater’s go-for-broke original. That said, as episodes pass and Scully lets loose a bit more, JD does become more what we need him to be — in other words, not just cute but compelling.
Luckily, in the meantime, Heathers throws us at every turn another treat — here a cameo by OG Shannen Doherty, there Selma Blair, a trashy treasure as Heather Duke’s stepmother — and invites us to lick it up, baby, lick it up! (Side note: You will.) The adults are as hilariously clueless as you’d dare hope, the kids fling zingers like they’ve been mainlining All About Eve, and the series’ unexpected heart actually answers the question, “What’s your damage?” In short, Heathers slays.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Paramount Network’s reboot of Heathers is to die for. It isn’t as good as the movie; it’s better.
Is this a half hour show or a full hour show?
Also, they’re allowed to drop F-Bombs on the Paramount Network?
Hour long. There are two F-bombs in the pilot but I have no idea if those will be edited for the broadcast version.
Does it get better after the first episode? I felt like it had way too many “wink wink nudge nudge” nods towards the movie (which isn’t surprising for a pilot) and just felt like it was trying way too hard.
I was impressed with the show as well. Chandler and Duke are by far the best parts of the show, while JD is by far the worst
I must confess that I have never seen the movie, I dont have the baggage of comparing the pilot to the movie. The pilot is fantastic.
Have to saw, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the original heathers and dreaded this reboot. The show gives me Scream Queens vibes in terms of its sense of humour (which I’m down with as I loved Scream Queens #RIP #Season2neverhappened ). Can’t wait to see how the show’s story unfolds
I could not disagree more. I found it wickedly unfunny, unoriginal, and not at all “cute.” I loved the original film. And I think this version’s Veronica is the best thing about it. But the writing is just not good. It tries way too hard. Hard pass.
Does it stay on the same level as the pilot? Because I watched that and it was just insufferable but maybe it gets better? Honestly the only times I laughed were during the scene with the adult school staff but most of the jokes are just trying so hard ,like JDs dad with the shake weight…is it 2009? I will say stylistically wise it does look good though I can give it that
As a huge fan of the original, I’m reluctant to watch the new one. The original worked for many reasons, but at its heart was a message about equality. It had you rooting for the downtrodden (gay kids, overweight kids, nerdy kids) who were oppressed by the “mean girls” (skinny, popular, pretty, straight white girls). That dynamic, and the result of themes like bullying and suicide, is still as relevant now as it was 30 years ago because those same oppressors are still oppressing the same people in high school and in society. So for the show to pervert that by making the “mean girls” be a fat girl, a black girl, and a gay guy who are oppressing the poor skinny, straight white people with their oppressive pc views… uhhh no. ***k me gently with a chainsaw. Was this reboot written by the Trump administration?
That is exactly what I read earlier about it. I am not watching it. LGBTQ kids are still bullied today, among other kids, so why are they doing the bullying now? This is probably an alt-right Trump version.
Someone ALWAYS has to make everything about politics. Pitiful.
Taking a powerful majority and painting themselves as somehow victims of the oppressed minority is exactly what is going on in politics right now. I didn’t write this show but it is impossible to ignore the similarities.
Art is inherently political, deal with it. And this shows writing is not subtle in it’s politics.
Reading a few of the comments, the concept of satire seems to be lost on a few posters.
The concept is not lost on me at all. The problem for me is what they are satirizing now is a complete reversal and betrayal of what the original movie satirized.
Looking forward to it. If it’s anything like the movie, I’m on board.
I’m in the same boat. I watched the pilot out of morbid curiosity, prepared to savage it for sacrilege against the original. Defying all odds, it was actually awesome.
No
Lmao you do realize that the show is being embraced by the alt-right with open arms? 🙄🙄
Are you kidding me? The pilot was terrible, I couldn’t even finish it. How much did you get paid for this?
As a fan of the original movie, I have to say I think it would have been better if they said it was “inspired by Heathers” and had renamed anything else.
Because in my opinion it doesn’t embody the spirit of the original movie at all, it just trades on its name, just like so many others (Ahem… cough, cough, Dynasty…cough) do today.
Can’t wait to watch it after these comments! Wow ! All I remember is that it was a horrible group of kid treating other kids horribly. I know the writers work and he is one of my favorites .
Vanna, watchbthis om ipn
Unwatchable, and frankly unbelievable.