Before I begin, I would like to dedicate this review of tonight’s premiere episode of The L.A. Complex in memory of The CW’s defunct Melrose Place reboot, because I would feel all sorts of wrong if I didn’t since the show reminds me (and other viewers) of the 2009 cancelled soap. Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s begin!
Hailing from Canada and the producers of Degrassi, The L.A. Complex is everything that Melrose Place (2009) could have been and more. You have six P.Y.T.’s trying to make it in the horror show that is Hollywood (which did not get a Disney-esque view tonight) all while handling their personal struggles as well. Sounds familiar? It most certainly does, which fellow TVO writer and L.A. Complex fan Clarissa wrote about in her own review of the new drama. However, there are several aspects that saved The L.A. Complex from becoming a regurgitated “Fame meets Melrose Place” hybrid and they all were in the pilot, which is a damn good sign if you ask me. But before I go deep into what makes this show work, let’s take a look at the characters that will surely become household names by the end of its six-episode first season.
Abby (Cassie Steele)
A native Canadian and aspiring actress, who made the saying “down on her luck” a complete and utter understatement. It was as if God and everything else in the cosmos wanted dear old Abby to fail and return to her increasingly annoying boyfriend back home. Despite her tribulations building a fort against her the size of the Great Wall of China, Abby trudged on throughout the pilot. Did she land the big role she was chasing throughout the episode? Nope. And it is here where the show actually worked for me. If Abby had of landed a role of any kind, The L.A. Complex could have been served a summons by the Cliché Police for using a television trope that has been done to death. However, Abby’s possible solution to her money problems seems worthy of a bust for the Cliché Police to make.
Tariq (Benjamin Charles Watson)
I don’t want to say Tariq serves as the token black character (which another white character awkwardly mentioned during auditioning for a show within the show), but his aspirations to be a rapper (or rap/music producer) was sort of token-ish. I also didn’t care too much about how he was treated like the ugly step child by his employers, even though I understood that their role is to fuel the fire in Tariq to show them that he’s not just some nerdish looking go-for boy. However, I need my man Tariq to loosen that top button on his shirts, because he’s killing me slowly by the sight of them. Plus, isn’t it hot as hell in L.A.? You would think he would want to breathe and have some taste of air circulating through his clothes. Just saying…
Nick (Joe Dinicol)
The comedian of the group who, got ripped to shreds by Paul Tompkins and Mary Lynn Rajskub in the most hilarious scene of the night (beside Abby puking on a casting director. Yes, she did that.), Nick got a beating from all corners in the premiere, but despite his comedic material being horrendous to the point of drawing blood from your ears, I still sympathized with guy.
Alicia (Chelan Simmons)
At first glance, Alicia looked as if she had her career and confidence factor in check. As the episode went on, however, it became clear that Alicia is far from being the next Jenny on the Block among the residents of The Deluxe Motel. But Alicia hid her angst from her friends, but not to the point where she degraded them in the process, which makes me like her way more than her neighbor Raquel, who I will get into later. Another reason to like Alicia? She’s a stripper by night and could become Abby’s only lifeline in helping the poor girl get a job. Yes, the stripper reveal was pretty clichéd in itself, but Alicia wasn’t ashamed to take a job at the “shake junt” to make ends meet. See? There’s another twist to the “struggling talented youth of Hollywood” tale.
Connor (Jonathan Patrick Moore)
Landing a major role in a pilot without having a guest role elsewhere pitted Connor as the luckiest guy of the Deluxe Motel residents. With that said, looks can be deceiving as our golden boy seems to be lonely now that he’s made it to the top, which is hella interesting. Instead of being a jackass and hanging his newfound star status over Abby for more nookie, Connor seems like he is truly a down to earth guy who doesn’t buy into the Hollywood image mentality. Could that train of thought become his main problem throughout the series? We can hardly wait to see…
Raquel (Jewel Staite)
Hands down, Raquel will be the mandatory Queen of the show, because it is basically her destiny at this point. I love how they didn’t have her coming out the box being an Amanda Woodward clone, though, meaning she wasn’t trying to wreck shop. That cringe-worthy scene dealing with race that I mentioned earlier featured Ms. Former Teen Star, but while I wasn’t offended by Raquel’s words (which wasn’t completely racist), I knew she had balls of steel for even going there in the first place. I just wonder if her mean will be self-contained with her own stories or if she will lash out at her neighbors for the sheer spite of it. It will also be interesting to see if she will go through with helping the two filmmakers get their film made, only so she can star in it obviously. In other words, Jewel Staite rocks in this role and we want more of Raquel. Please and thank you.
First Impressions
The L.A. Complex works on so many levels, but I’m only going to focus on a couple. As I stated earlier, the show takes some of the tropes (not all) of the struggling Hollywood talent and turns them on their heads. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that The L.A. Complex has done a “Cabin in the Woods” with this genre. It only says that the show is a breath of fresh air that isn’t scared to tell people Hollywood can be seriously ugly. No one really came out in the end with a happy ending at the end of tonight’s pilot. The only thing close to one was Tariq getting a slimmer of respect from his manager Dynasty, but even still the sample he sent to Drake will be known as Dynasty’s instead of his own, which is basically sad.
The L.A. Complex is all about the struggle of trying to make it in Hollywood, not the “when” and/or “happily ever after” part and it’s in that sentiment alone where the show will stand out. Between Fame, where your dreams drove you to be the best in a high school environment and Smash, where you’ve made, but the conflict afterwards involves trying to stay at the top, The L.A. Complex falls in between those two as the ‘dark’ period between the two. Even though the show isn’t that deep, it still manages (in some areas) to tell you that Hollywood can suck on so many levels. And for that, I’m game for what the show has to offer.
If only to fill the void Melrose Place left. And no, I will never get over that.
What did you guys think about the premiere of The L.A. Complex? Should The CW try to keep this show on the air?
Photos: Stephen Scott/Epitome Pictures
Yes! The CW should definitely keep this show. I came into this show a bit skeptical, thinking it’ll be another Melrose copy-cat but was pleasantly surprised! They had so many scenes where they “went there” such as the scene with the morning after pill and that scene with Raquel at the auditioning room being slightly racist.
Can’t wait for the next episode!