On My Block
By Sophia Fineza
On My Block is revolutionizing the “teenagers growing up” story by showing the side that isn’t really commercialized. In shows like these, you always hear about the kids from “the wrong side of the tracks” but now we finally have a series about them. I think it was a great idea to finally represent a different kind of neighborhood in the “we’re not kids anymore” kinds of shows, and the wild popularity of On My Block confirms that people are moving on from the rich and privileged teens and want to see what the world is truly capable of.
logline: On My Block is a coming of age story about 4 street smart teens living in East Los Angeles. When one of them becomes involved in a gang, they band together to help him out through various schemes, including bonding with the gang leader, getting information out of a former gang member obsessed with gnomes, and finding a bunch of cash that could be hidden in their neighborhood.
My favorite characters:
Brett Gray as Jamal Turner - he is the FUNNIEST character. even in some of the darkest situations, he can make it hilarious.
Peggy Blow as Ruby’s Abuela - her friendship and bond with Jamal is one of the best parts of the show, and is unexpectedly really helpful to the group of four.
Julio Macias as Oscar “Spooky” Diaz - even though he’s the “scary gang leader”, there are moments where you can see that he truly cares for his brother and lets his guard down, which is a nice change from the “scary all the time” person we’re expecting.
This show is rated TV-14. Here’s why:
Sex
Substance Use/Smoking
Language
Something I like: The music in this series is really good, so major props to whoever was in charge of that. Listen Here
Where to Watch: Netflix
Number of Seasons: 3