I finished Adolescence feeling like I’d been hit with a gut punch, left reeling and struggling to catch my breath. The series isn’t your typical crime drama; it’s a harrowing exploration of toxic masculinity, the damage inflicted by unchecked internet culture, and the horrific consequences that follow when we fail to address the subtle warning signs.
It’s the kind of show that leaves a lasting imprint on your mind, forcing you to reflect on the society we’ve created and the way we’ve failed the very children we raise. And the terror? It doesn’t come from fictional monsters—it comes from the real, flesh-and-blood horrors we’ve let fester in silence. Adolescence is a chilling, gut-wrenching look at the kind of trauma that shapes a murderer—and the ultimate question: Could we have prevented it?
With its relentless pacing, brilliant direction by Philip Barantini, and performances that sear themselves into your memory, Adolescence pulls back the veil of youth to expose the dark forces lurking beneath.
The setup: A murder that shocks but doesn’t surprise
In an unnamed Northern English town, Adolescence kicks off with the arrest of Jamie Miller, a seemingly typical teenager accused of murdering his classmate, Katie.
But what’s truly terrifying isn’t just the crime itself; it’s the journey that unfolds as we try to piece together the mind of a seemingly normal teen turned murderer. The eerie atmosphere, brilliantly executed through Philip Barantini’s directorial style, only adds to the unease.
As the investigation unfolds, it’s clear that Adolescence is more than just about solving a murder. It’s an exploration of Jamie’s psyche—torn between toxic masculinity, internet influences, and a deep sense of rejection. His confession in the final episode hits hard not because of its shock value but because we, the viewers, can’t help but feel the overwhelming weight of his journey.
Was he always going to be this way? Were we blind to the signs? Were we complicit in shaping him into the person he became?
Jamie’s character: A web of lies and manipulation
Jamie Miller, played with an unsettling depth by Owen Cooper, is the heart of Adolescence’s dark journey. From the beginning, we see a teenager who, despite being caught on CCTV stabbing Katie, continues to weave a web of lies.
Episode 3 shows how Jamie manipulates his therapist, using his charm and quick thinking to avoid truly confronting his actions. For a while, his parents, Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda (Faye Marsay), hold on to the hope that their son might not have committed the murder, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.
The lies are so convincing, so calculated, that you can almost understand why they refuse to believe the truth.
The ending and final confession: A guilty plea that breaks the family
The series comes crashing down with Jamie’s decision to plead guilty to Katie’s murder in the finale. It’s Eddie’s 50th birthday, a day that starts with a glimmer of normalcy—until the phone call. Jamie, after over a year of detention, finally admits to what he’s done. The gut-wrenching truth hits Eddie like a freight train, shattering the last remaining pieces of hope he had held on to.
The footage of Jamie stabbing Katie, once something Eddie could barely fathom, is now an undeniable reality.
Eddie’s confession, “I should have done better,” is heartbreaking because it doesn’t just echo his grief—it echoes the collective failure of everyone involved. The sense of helplessness lingers, and I find myself asking: Could any of us have done more?
The moment Jamie pleads guilty, it feels like a dagger in the chest, a painful but necessary admission that we can no longer deny what has happened. For Eddie, Manda, and the entire Miller family, it’s a moment that erases the comforting illusion that Jamie was simply misunderstood.
The monster isn’t in some distant corner of society—it was right there, under their roof the whole time.
Eddie and Manda’s guilt: The weight of responsibility
The emotional toll on Eddie and Manda is profound. After Jamie’s guilty plea, they reflect on their parenting, wondering where they went wrong. Eddie recalls how he tried to get Jamie into sports, while Manda talks about the long nights Jamie spent isolated in front of his computer. In the series’ most poignant moment, their daughter Lisa reminds them that they didn’t make Jamie “dark” any more than they made her.
The weight of guilt is palpable, but the truth is that Adolescence suggests that no one person is to blame for Jamie’s descent into violence—not his parents, not his school, and certainly not the world he grew up in. The show suggests that while parents play a crucial role, there’s a larger, more sinister influence at play—society’s obsession with toxic masculinity, the damaging nature of cyberbullying, and the pervasive impact of online culture.
FandomWire gives Adolescence a perfect 10 rating, and honestly, I couldn’t agree more. The entire cast delivers stellar performances, but it’s Stephen Graham who truly steals the show. His portrayal of Eddie Miller is nothing short of masterful.
Understanding Jamie’s motive: The dark influence of internet culture
As the story unravels, we see that Jamie’s crime was not just an act of violence—it was an act driven by rejection, humiliation, and the toxic influences of the internet. Episode 4 reveals that Katie had subtly bullied Jamie on social media, using emojis to hint that she saw him as an “incel”—a term for a person, often a man, who is involuntarily celibate and can harbor resentment toward women.
His actions can be understood through the lens of toxic masculinity, which tells young men that their worth is tied to dominance, control, and aggression. Jamie, having internalized these toxic messages, lashes out violently when he perceives rejection from Katie.
But wait, Adolescence doesn’t excuse his behavior; rather, it provides a chilling look at how the culture around him—his peers, the internet, and his family—contributed to the monster he became. There’s a moment in episode 3 where Jamie, speaking with his therapist, reveals just how deeply he’s been affected by online ideologies.
The heartbreaking reality of Adolescence
Watching the final moments of Adolescence hit me like a wave of cold water. It wasn’t just the gut-wrenching grief of Eddie Miller; a father left to pick up the shattered pieces of a life he thought he understood. As he faces the reality that his son, a boy he once thought was simply struggling with adolescence, is now a killer, I couldn’t help but feel a heavy weight of guilt for all of us.
How did we get here? Where did we go wrong? The uncomfortable truth is that none of us are truly innocent.
The series doesn’t offer us clear-cut answers, and I don’t think it’s supposed to. But what it does do is provoke a necessary conversation. A conversation that we, as a society, need to have if we want to prevent more tragedies like Jamie’s.
We must recognize the warning signs—especially with our youth—and become more compassionate, proactive, and willing to listen. Because if we don’t, we might just be watching the next Adolescence unfold right before our eyes—and we might not get the chance to stop it!
Adolescence is streaming on Netflix.
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