South of Nowhere

After obsessing over The Good Wife and subsequently running out of new episodes to watch, I set my aim on finding a new drama for my viewing pleasure. Since we're years removed from the last time I got into a romance show, that's the realm I shot for.

Romance dramas are another genre which I love with all my heart, but am extremely discerning with. The glitzy 90210 spiele is not my kind of scene, nor is the cheeky modern chic of the Sex And The City crowd. I'm more into the original WB aesthetic: Dawson's Creek, Gilmore Girls. A little more wholesome and moral, a little less overwrought or convulsing. I'm not sure if WB wholesomeness is all that true to life either, but the FOX sex & money mayhem just doesn't feel relatable to me.

I landed on South Of Nowhere, the groundbreaking Teen Nick original which I've had on my to-watch list for quite some time. Unfortunately I've never had the Teen Nick channel so I had never been able to see it. As it would happen, the reason I've waited this long to get it on DVD amounts to a misconception. Expository write-ups about the show (on Wikipedia, for example) portray it as being about a girl who questions her sexuality when she befriends a gay girl. I misinterpreted that as: a bicurious straight girl with a gay friend. Not as interesting of a setup, to me. But only a few episodes in, it becomes clear that both the girls are gay, and in fact the series revolves around the romance between the two of them. Ironically, by the end of the series it wouldn't be out of line to contend that Ashley (the friend) is some level of bisexual while Spencer (the first character), is solely interested in women.

South of Nowhere definitely has more of a WB feel than a FOX one. I loved watching it with the utmost of thoroughness. I couldn't identify an overarching theme or message in the series (which is something I like to find in a drama), but the characters are solid, the plot is decent, and the highest praise I can give any show: ...it had me frequently yelling at the TV screen! The twists were shocking and the emotional investment was immense. Not even The Good Wife has inspired quite that reaction in me. South of Nowhere is a uniquely beautiful and touching series, and very entertaining.

The cinematography is gorgeous. It has this definite "shaky cam" thing going on, which reaches a peculiar 'meta' level when at one point the main character starts carrying a camera around and randomly recording whatever's going on! I'm sure the odd angles and jittering must annoy a lot of people, but as a fan of found footage movies, I dig it. My guess would be it's done to foster a feeling of closeness to the action, or realness. Or even just to heighten the action itself, and add an extra modicum of suspense. In any case, it gives the series a very *literal* edginess and makes it feel distinctly cool, not to mention modern. Helping the mood is a [i]perfect[/i] soundtrack of hip alternative rock.

SoN was an incredibly innovative series, not just for being a drama about teen lesbians broadcast on a teen-oriented channel alongside the likes of Drake & Josh, but for being among the first programs in any demographic to star and revolve around lesbian characters, and for doing so with such grace and humility. Often when one of TV's various taboos is guillotined, it is handled with sensationalistic fervor to garner publicity and ratings, but South of Nowhere tells a subtle romantic tale with the quiet dignity befitting its story. As a result, South of Nowhere may never have recieved the notoriety it so clearly deserves. But, in exchange for fame, it was able to tell an endearingly sincere story that has touched so many lives in a way no other program could.

I found it fantastically refreshing to watch a romance show again. I wish I had any idea of where to go after South of Nowhere. I'm not sure there's another program like this on the planet. There are some interesting UK programs, e.g. Sugar Rush. But they're completely unavailable on DVD/legal download stateside, and who knows if they foster the wholesome WB perspective I like in a romance. It might be a long time before I get my romance fix again.

But at least I can look forward to rewatching South of Nowhere ad naeseum! ^^