Freeridge is back.
Gloria complains that Ines told everyone she has herpes. Episode 1 of Freeridge begins at a high school. They claw, punch, and kick each other without abandon until one wins.
The principal dismisses the two sisters and dismisses Gloria, who is the sophomore class president. Their father comes in and awkwardly promises to "hit them hard" with life lessons. Outside the office, we see that the man is actually their uncle Tonio. He demands a hundred dollars each from them for pretending to be their father and tells them to settle their debt in a week. Gloria says she's done taking care of her.
Gloria tells her best friends Cam and Demi that they disagree about Ines and encourage Gloria to break free. Cam hopes to break up with his boyfriend Andre, in the same way.
Gloria tries to find a silver spoon she gave her aunt only to realize that Ines had already sold it. Gloria replies that things will work out because Gloria does everything. Their father intervenes right then. Demi removes their late mother's scarf from the boxes and informs them that a friend would come to his birthday party.
Gloria refuses to ice out Ines from her friends, and Cam refuses to dump Andre. Cam says he's never been more attracted to her. Demi claims they must tell Ines to leave themselves since Gloria won't do it. They'd also have a bad breakup and destroy the friend group anyway.
Gloria tells Ines that she's frozen out and needs her own friends. The next day, Ines goes out with Gloria at Gloria's yard sale anyway. A man comes out of the house behind Gloria and asks why her yard sale is in front of their yard sale. His wife fights Gloria but she agrees to sell the items for a marked price.
Cam discovers an MM box and buys it so that Andre will dump him. Gloria asks for the box and offers more than 200 dollars for it. When Gloria goes to get it from Cam, the woman disappears.
A woman arrives at the door, this time stating that the box was cursed, but she disappears before Gloria can get it for her.
Gloria and Ines savor their father's birthday party, then Demi rants about how they are all cursed. Lucia is the girls' mother's old scarf, and not only does their father switch on the AC for her.
Demi checks if her tarot cards are cursed in her room. The cards give her bad news. Cam enters through her window and tells her the box is indeed cursed because Andre loved it.
Gloria and Ines discuss Lucia and how Ines may not be their father's favorite lady anymore. They also discuss the curse, although Gloria does not believe there is a cause and effect for everything. After all, their mother did not deserve her death.
Demi is apprehensive about the curse at school, especially when Ines' arrival leads to her black obsidian stone breaking in half. Andre arrives, and to everyone's amazement, his face grows. The group return to the yard sale and show the woman the picture they found there. She says the woman is deceased.
Gloria doesn't believe that anyone else is cursed and is plagued by a ghost. She says the actual curse came about when she became dependent on Ines. She leaves them to it when it's life or death.
Tonio picks up the phone and proceeds to look over his laptop to see that he hasn't been paying him much attention before. Gloria apologizes and Ines says she will soon meet Gloria's friends.
Gloria accepts the curse and promises that Ines will assist them because she is fearless and they need that. The woman in the coat watches them from outside.
After the first episode of On My Block, Ines, Demi, and Cam are evidently wonderful and genuine individuals. The quipping, the banter, the eye-rolling, and yes, the hand-holding-and-gazing are all well done. Coupled with some prompt but thorough editing, the episode establishes these teenagers and their quintessentially adolescent personalities.
Although the tide appears to be descending on Ines at the moment, I am most interested to see how that changes over the episodes. The introduction of the box and the woman were enough to keep one interested in more.
These kids are obviously dealing with very real and serious issues underneath all the drama. Gloria is clearly assigned to care for Ines, while Ines herself seems to hide more vulnerable thoughts in a calm manner. it will be interesting to see how the program ties those two things together.
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| Expect A Full Season Write-Up Later This Month! | |
