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Although it may be easy to make the comparison to “Euphoria,” HBO Max’s first foray into Generation Z storytelling, “Genera+ion,” is a show teens can actually watch.

There’s a refreshing quality to “Genera+ion,” the new dramedy from creators Daniel Barnz and his teenage daughter Zelda Barnz. “Genera+ion” is the latest series to throw its hat into the ring of television shows depicting Gen Z, the digitally driven and socially conscious yet not infallible demographic of adolescents.

In the three-episode premiere, viewers are introduced to a group of high school students who are exploring sex, sexuality and gender expression in Orange County, California — hence the stylized “t’ in the title which references the + that is often put at the end of LGBTQ.

The cast of “Genera+tion” features up-and-coming actors, and although much of the cast is not actually a part of Gen Z, they certainly act the part well and there’s no question that this show was made with teens in mind. The cast actually looks and sounds like teenagers, unlike other teen dramas, such as “Gossip Girl,” “90210” or “One Tree Hill,” where the teens looked like and acted like adults masquerading as teens.

In the opening scene of the pilot episode, Naomi (Chloe East) waits outside of a mall bathroom while her friend, Delilah (Lukita Maxwell), goes into labor. Naomi’s voice is shrill as she expresses frustration over having to watch a pesky YouTube ad before watching a video on how to give birth in a bathroom. She is that annoying teen, and East is totally believable in the role.

You can tell a Gen Z teenager was in the writer’s room through the small, specific details grown adults and parents would miss but teenagers would appreciate. I can see teenage creator Zelda Barnz’s touch in the second episode of the premiere, “Dickscovery,” when best friends Riley (Chase Sui Wonders) and Nathan (Uly Schlesinger) race through the club fair and sign up for clubs just to get snacks.

I can also see it in an early scene in the same episode when autocorrect repeatedly foils Greta’s (Haley Sanchez) efforts to casually comment on her crush, Riley’s, Instagram story and she has to painstakingly correct her mistakes. The secondhand embarrassment could be felt through my laptop screen and was acutely familiar.

“Genera+ion” is not reinventing the wheel when it comes to telling teenagers’ stories. Teen pregnancy, budding sexual attraction and desire, depression, issues with parents and rebellion are not new or specific to the Gen Z teen experience.

That being said, “Genera+ion” is indeed a continuation of the newer, distinct teen drama canon of television series that centers itself specifically around Gen Z. The show is distinguishable from the teen dramas of yesteryear in that it is not only diverse but that it’s characters of color and those who identify as LGBTQ aren’t just there for shock value, the pleasure of straight characters or to be ultimately punished and written out. They are not reduced to their identities, and yet, it’s baked into how they experience their worlds and adolescence.

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In the pilot, there’s a scene where Greta hands Riley her phone back, an extreme close-up shot shows their hands touching, then Riley twirls her hair and finally a shot of Riley’s eyes from Greta’s point of view. It’s shots like these which frame same-sex crushes as normal, intense, dreamy and awkward as crushes between people of the opposite sex.

For all of the heteronormative love stories in teen dramas, we don’t get enough of moments such as these on television, especially not of queer Latina girls and women. “Genera+tion” is giving audiences more of those moments.

Gen Z is more informed about social issues, identity and politics than any generation before them thanks to social media. There’s plenty of dialogue in the three-episode premiere that shows off this particular trait of Gen Z. It feels over the top at points. But, at the end of the day, no matter how much the Gen Z teens in the series think they know about the world around them or themselves, they’re still just kids trying to figure it all out and falling flat on their faces when they inevitably slip up, as teenagers do.

Published on March 22, 2021 at 8:51 pm

Contact Madison: mntyler@syr.edu