"Clickbait" Series Review: Viral Thriller with Modern Implications

Platform: Netflix

Release Date: August 25, 2021

When a video begins circulating of loving husband and father Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier) bloodied and holding a sign reporting that he abuses women, it catches the attention of his sister, Pria (Zoe Kazan), and the rest of the world. Most urgently, the video shows Nick holding a second sign that cited: "AT 5 MILLION VIEWS I DIE". As the video goes viral and the Oakland police force struggle to find a lead in the case, Pia remains strong-willed that her brother is the victim of a heinous crime and enlists her own tactics to locate her brother. As the case takes a sharp turn and transitions from a missing persons investigation to a homicide, information from other women begins to sculpt Nick into a much less savory version of the man his wife, Sophie (Betty Gabriel), and others knew him to be. Did Nick have multiple dating site profiles that allowed him to have an affair with multiple women at once? Could Nick have some involvement in a young woman's suicide? These are the questions that split Nick's sister and his wife, as one fights for justice and the other moves towards acceptance.

The structure of the entire 8-episode series is set up for a self-contained character study, with the first seven episodes focusing on a key character in the mystery, leading to the finale eighth episode. I found it interesting that each episode was not titled after the characters' names, but rather the relationship role they played in the story (e.g., reporter, wife, son, etc.). I think this is telling of the lack of character development this series endures. Even for Zoe Kazan's Pia, who stole the attention of every scene she was in, there was not much evolution or growth. A part of that is because the structure of the show, focusing on a new angle of the same mystery, did not leave a lot of room for growth with the amount of exposition and tie-ins that had to occur. The main character, Nick, gets it the worst. Not that he gets no character growth but all of the changes pertaining to his character were completely undone by the last episode. This is not a case of the show needing better character arcs but more of needing much less exposition.

The series primarily consists of a a load of red herrings that lead to twists and turns that are provided for the sake of having twists and turns. Setting up a new character every episode to become the audiences newest lead suspect becomes exhaustive by the fourth episode. It does not lend to a thrilling and engaging mystery when there is not enough time left for audiences to chew on new information before trying to be shocking again. Rather than be shocked by information, the show tries to divert that shock towards the impulse actions of its characters, such as carelessly impeding the detectives' investigation. The problem becomes that the characters slowly become more disjointed from the central focus that the connections with the core mystery begin feeling faint. For example, as the show introduces more information about Nick's supposed affairs and how he treated some of them, it becomes so much piled on top of each other that it becomes a lost battle for redemption and feels more about condemning men than solving a mystery.

Unfortunately, as much as there is an underlying message related to the dangers of the internet, there is just as much man-condemning. All but one primary male character is made to be a potential suspect or villain in some way, which is not inherently a problem, but becomes an obvious theme that proves unecessary for the plot. In fact, I found it to simplify the mystery too much by leaving every possible suspect to be a man. Sure, the finale reveals a woman to be the firestarter for the events leading to Nick's murder, but it was still another man who ultimately committed the crime. The big reveal did not end up feeling big because the character is not someone we spent time with so there was no real tug of betrayal. I will not explain the theme surrounding the internet's dangers as I would expect that is pretty obvious based on the premise of the show. Although, it is odd that the show would contradict its own message by having Nick's son meet someone from the internet at their home without letting anyone know. If there is an immediate dangerous situation here, it would be that one.

It is quite ironic that a show titled “Clickbait” fulfilled the role of its premise, being clickbait. It pulls you in with an intriguing concept and then ends every episode with a cliffhanger worthy of clicking “Next Episode”. But what lies in between those engaging ploys is a shallow and poorly constructed mystery with a touch of family drama that all is left with little substance. The show teaches you not to trust what you see on the internet, but I implore you to trust that you should leave this one for the drama-focused teens. Unless you just need a guilty pleasure to play in the background, there is more sophisticated quality to be found elsewhere.

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RATING: 💻 💻. 5 / 5

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