Dash & Lily

 So, I was feeling kind of Christmas-y today and I didn't want to do a full hour exercising, so I thought I'd try out the first two episodes (just over 20 minutes each) of a show called Dash & Lily, based on a book by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn called Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. I'm not a huge fan of David. Don't get me wrong; I generally enjoy the books he writes (especially the ones with Rachel--like Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, which was also made into a movie). But I've met him a few times during conferences and conventions and he rubs me a bit the wrong way. It may just be the whole "you must be ON" during a conference thing, but he comes across as very stuck on himself and a bit fake and I suppose it stuck out because most of the people you meet in kidlit are truly just lovely and warm. But maybe he's lovely too. I'm sure he is to his friends. So, anyway, I decided to watch this in spite of that. 

Like his other books, this one is about those particularly jaded beasts known as NYC teenagers--the kind that go to Stuvie (or should). They are clever. Snarky. Well-read. Full of wit and independence. There is, honestly, probably no other city in the world that these rare creatures could live in. 

In this case, we have Dash, who is the very snarky and aptly-described "snarly" teen (played by a 24 year old). He hates Christmas. He's been burned by love. He fancies himself jaded. He thinks he wants to wallow in solitary confinement. His mom thinks he's staying with his dad. His dad thinks he's staying with his mom. He has one good friend (who's awesome) and an ex girlfriend that he can't forget (and is conveniently in town; I suspect she'll pop up at some point to cause some conflict). 

Then there's Lily (played by a 26 year old). She's an old soul in a teenager's body, more comfortable talking to adults than kids her age. She appears to have an endless collection of Christmas jumpers. She ADORES Christmas, but her family (for the first time ever during the holidays) is traveling and she's only got her adorable gay older brother (who has just embarked on a new romance) around. He encourages her to take a journal and set up a trail of clues / dares by leaving it in her favourite bookstore: The Strand.

Dash, of course, is the one that picks it up. At the end of episode two, they've traded it back and forth a few times and Dash in particular has been forced out of his comfort zone. He's not afraid to make a fool of himself, I'll say that for him. I imagine it will be Lily's turn soon. 

So. I gotta say that so far it's going exactly like I expected it would based on what I know of David and Rachel's books together. And I am enjoying it -- it's predictable but cute. Very charming. 

I like that Lily is half-Japanese (with the family to represent that). I love the gay older brother and yay for showing a nice-ish gay Asian couple (though, hey, he coulda met the guy somewhere *other* than Grindr, for heaven's sake). I like all the side characters -- the taciturn, unimpressed bookstore clerk saved as "Cousin Mark" in Lily's phone; the protective "Uncle" that plays a store Santa (that Dash winds up stealing a hat from in order to find out what Lily's name is), the best friend of Dash with the unlikely name of Boomer (if I'm remembering right). 

I'm sure I'll finish it. I just don't think it is going to surprise me. I feel like I've seen it before (Nick & Norah, Naomi & Ely), just set in a different season. I don't mean to sound snarky. I guess I just like to be surprised a little. But, we'll see! Maybe it will! And hey, I need some eggnog!

Edit: I finished it. It was okay. I wanted to like it more. Or, I wanted to hate it more. I landed somewhere in the middle. It was probably supposed to make me feel all warm and fuzzy, but I felt more frustrated. I wasn't even really rooting for them to get together. Was it that they were all ridiculously privileged and unapproachable? Was it that they feel doomed to me as a couple? That neither one of them really deserves the other? I don't know. Was it that every bit of it felt too familiar? I really don't know. Maybe it's just that I watched it at the end of 2020, one of the worst years ever.