We can’t get enough of coming-of-age high school sitcoms, especially when the protagonist in the story wants to “beat her coverage,” so to speak. Yes, we’re talking about shows where teenage girls who aren’t in the popular group but think they should get the popular guy, or get the popular guy and then dump him or do something that suits their status in the class corresponds to how they feel about themselves. A new Netflix series from Mexico goes in that direction and has a magnetic star at its center.
opening shot: A spotlight shines on a stage. A girl comes out and says, “I’ve got three minutes to show you that I’m the absolute best. Ready?”
The essentials: In a hilarious montage, Mich (Esmeralda Soto) shows that she’s popular, sings, dances and has the most popular guy in the class as a boyfriend. Then she wakes up. “Okay, I’m not that yet,” she says, smiling at the camera. “But I’m almost there.”
Mich is definitely confident and loves herself. But she’s invisible once she gets to school. She lives in the canal-lined neighborhood of Xochimilco in Mexico City, and once she rows her boat to school and ties up her oar, the only people she hangs out with are her buddies Yadi (Isabel Yudice) and Tania (Alicia Vélez ). ), both of whom feel they are “nobody” at school.
But Mich has a plan to increase her visibility, and it begins by revealing to the public that, in fact, she is is Dating the most popular boy in school, Dani (Germán Bracco). They’ve kept things rock bottom for a year but he promised her they’d go public at the 1 year mark that’s coming. She plans to march to the fountain in the yard where all the cool kids are and announce that she and Dani are dating. But Yadi and Tania warn them that the last non-cool person to approach the fountain was pushed into the murky water, never to be seen again.
When she goes to the fountain the next day to talk to Dani, everyone there, including Dani and her popular cousin Brenda (Michelle Olvera), pretend they don’t know who she is. Even the headmaster guesses her name wrong. Brenda pulls Me aside and tells her that she gave Me the superpower of invisibility. But after a conversation with her stepfather Fer (Luis Fernando Peña), she is convinced that being different is her real superpower.
Empowered, Me announces to the school that she wants all the unseen humans to raid the well with her and even creates flyers to put up around the school. When she goes to the print shop to make copies, she meets the owner’s grandson, Mati (Tadeo Tovar), whom she last saw when they were both children. Now he’s tall and handsome and a DJ. She breaks off with Dani and then sits down by the fountain; Brenda tells her buddies to shove her in, but Mich gets the credit she thinks she deserves.
What shows will it remind you of? The most beautiful flower (Original title: La flor más bella) is a bright, colorful I have never.
Our opinion: The most beautiful flower is produced by comedian Michelle Rodriguez and Fernanda Eguiarte based on Rodriguez’s teenage years and is carried by the winning personality and 1000-watt smile of Esmerelda Soto. The idea is quite the opposite of most high school shows you watch, especially ones where the nerdy kid or shy kid is trying to keep their heads down and just get out of high school in one piece. No, Mich wants everyone to know how great she is and everything she demonstrates serves that purpose.
One wonders how a character who portrays Soto so vividly can be invisible in her high school. Yes, she’s not skinny and her friends aren’t cool at all. But she’s smart, pretty, and educated, and seems to have more talent than most of the students in her class. But that’s high school for you; It’s very hard to break out of the social classes you’re put into when you’re young, unless you somehow change or become someone you’re not. Mich’s amazing ability to love himself, despite what shines through in Soto’s performance.
It’ll be fun to see Me force her way into people’s attention spans, and it’ll be especially fun that her “nemesis” at school is her cousin, someone she really likes because, hey, they are a family. All of these complicated relationships will only help make the show more interesting as the season progresses.
gender and skin: Given the TV-14 rating, we probably won’t see much of it. In the first episode, that’s definitely not the case.
farewell shot: After celebrating that the well incident made her famous, Brenda says, “You’ll never be like me.” Mich replies. “You’re right. I’ll be better.”
sleeping star: We give that to Luis Fernando Peña as Mich’s stepfather Fer. Unlike her mother, who wants her to be in heels like the other girls, Fer sees what’s special about Me and seems like the type of guy who will encourage her every step of the way. And he’s a good cook.
Most pilot line: Before Mich helps him in class, Dani says that Columbus discovered America in “1942”. The question didn’t even refer to Columbus. Can anyone be that stupid?
Our appeal: Stream it. Due to Esmerelda Soto’s electric performance and the empowering nature of the story, The most beautiful flower should provide viewers with an enjoyable season.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and technology, but he doesn’t fool himself: He’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and elsewhere.