Hey, hey, they’re the Runarounds, the latest Pinocchio band to cross the line between fiction and fact. Meet Charlie (William Lipton), guitar! He’s a romantic! Neil (Axel Ellis), also guitar! Not just a category! (He reads Ferlinghetti.) Topher (Jeremy Yun), lead guitar! Quiet! Wyatt (Jesse Golliher), bass! Even quieter! And Bez (Zendé Murdock), drums, replacing Pete (Maximo Salas), henceforth “manager,” who was, of course, named Pete Best, or I’ll eat my Beatles fan club card.
They’ve been assembled for your fist pumping from the announced expectation of 5,000 people responding to an open call for musicians, and dropped into the center of the teen musical soap opera, also called “Runarounds,” on Monday, Monday, Monday.
This rockin’ brew comes to you courtesy of Jonas Pate, creator of the Netflix teenage treasure-hunt series “Outer Banks,” and like the show, it’s a wish-fulfilling fantasy set in Pate’s native North Carolina, specifically the seaside town of Wilmington, which offers plenty of lovely scenery and charming home architecture. And like that show, it’s all about youth and wanting to be free like the bluebirds. Unlike that show, all the shirts here are in the literal sense (though not metaphorically at all).
The eight-episode season begins just as high school is ending, which dramatically means parties and a scene where someone gives a graduation speech. (That would be Sophie, played by Lilah Pate, Jonas’ daughter.) Charlie, who has just turned 18, is avoiding telling his parents that he’s not going to college, even though he’s been accepted to one. (Only one is perhaps an unintended consequence.) His entire future, at least in his mind, hinges on whether the end of summer “signs”—which, in music business terms, is 20th-century thinking, but like a lot of music being made today, this is an old-fashioned show. That, and Sophie, the beautiful, overly sad girl he’s been crushing on for four years to get noticed.
Charlie, Toph, Neil, and Pete have been playing an unspecified number of gigs under an unfortunate name that I won’t repeat, and they feel pretty good about the band, though it’s strangely necessary until the pilot requires them to realize that Pete is a terrible drummer. After some soul-searching and flyer-placing, they recruit Bez, who drums so well that one wonders why he’s not already in three other bands—or why there doesn’t seem to be any other bands or any music scene around. He brings along his friend Wyatt, who takes up bass, and a new band is born. Wyatt’s introvert, shy smile, and new Jeff Tweed vibe make him instantly the most intriguing of the bunch.
Charlie (William Lipton), Wyatt (Jesse Golliher), and Bez (Zendé Murdock) in a scene from “The Runarounds,” set in Wilmington, NC
(Jackson Lee Davis / Prime Video)
Along with Sophie, who writes poems that could be song lyrics, the female element is filled out by Amanda (Kelley Pereira), Topher’s controlling, capable girlfriend who will prove a secret weapon for the group, and Bender (Marley Alija), who goes by the camera, which is with the camera, and is both sly and completely incarnated. They don’t have to be in the group, but as actors they do a lot to support their non-professional castmates. (Lipton, the only professional actor in the group, including in 328 episodes of “General Hospital,” comes across as less authentic than the untrained others, though that may be partly because he’s saddled with the most difficult storylines and has to say things like, “I want to write love songs that change the world.”)
Tāpat kā “ārējās bankās” un divas no katrām trim pusaudžu izrādēm, vairums ir pretrunā ar vecākiem, kaķenēm jaunajiem skatītājiem, kuri pat reizēm ir pretrunā ar saviem vecākiem, pat par maznozīmīgām lietām, jo - vecāki! Čārliju spēlē Bruklina Dekkere, kuras varonis māca filmu, un Hayes MacArthur, kuras varonis ir pavadījis 12 gadus, strādājot pie romāna – tas ir, tikai strādājot pie romāna, kas ir, nestrādājot; Kaut kā viņi nav šķīrušies. (Un nauda kļūst par problēmu, un ir liels noslēpums, kas satricinās ģimeni.) “Kāds darbs tiek veikts peldmētelī, tēvs?” Saka Čārlija mutes mazā māsa Tatum (Willa Dunn).
Neila tēvs, kuram ir veselības problēmas, pieņem, ka viņa dēls pievienosies viņam gleznošanas biznesā; Topher’s ir konservatīvas iestrēgušas tabletes, kuras, tāpat kā Amanda, ir viņu plānojušas finanšu karjerā. Bez tēvs ir arī mūziķis, bet domā, ka viņa dēls tērē laiku ar Runarounds. Vaijatas māte ir sava veida atkarīgais, kurš viņu ienīst. Sofijas tēvs pēc dažiem gadiem pēc mātes nāves pats ārstējas, atstājot viņu paņemt gabalus. (“Es visu daru pareizi uz papīra, bet es nejūtos dzīvs,” viņa saka.) Vai jūs drīzāk nebūtu kopā ar draugiem, spēlējoties grupā?
Wyatt atradīs darbu un patvērumu, un grupai mēģinājumu telpa mūzikas veikalā, kuru vada neparasts pieaugušais Keitsbijs (Marks Wystrach), kurš 18 gadus pavadīja Nešvilā, piedzīvojot panākumus un neveiksmes, un zināja Čārlija māti kādreiz – tāpēc tā būs lieta. (Veikals acīmredzot vispār nedara biznesu.) Iedvesmai viņš bērniem nosūta savu vecā drauga slepeno šovu uz slepenu šovu Deksters Romveber (Reāls cilvēks, kurš tagad ir miris, spēlē Breds Kārters), kurš satricinās viņu nervus un grabinās savas smadzenes un atstāj viņus ar mudinošu un atturīgu gudrības vārdiem, pirms pazūd naktī un izdomāts liktenis.
Tik bieži mēs iegūstam priekšnesumu – izlaiduma ballītē, apgabala gadatirgū, kāzās, ceļa māja, prestižā atklāšanas slotā, kur pūļi reaģē tā, it kā viņi būtu ekstras TV šovā. (Bērni var spēlēt, un dziesmas nav sliktas.) Tā kā viņi cīnās pret savu mērķi, viņi satiks katastrofu un pretestību. Viņi satrauksies, viņi naidos. Viņi pieļaus kļūdas, viņi upurēs, viņi sagādās nepatikšanas, lai gan nav problēmu, kuras nevarētu novērst ar atvainošanos vai čeku grāmatu vai kādu, kas viņus glābtu. (Esmu diezgan pārliecināts, ka ilgā nepilngadīgo bērnu vēsturē, kas ielīst klubos, neviens nekad nav arestēts un ielieciet cietumābet varbūt Vilmingtonā viss ir savādāk.) Viņi augs un paliks ārā visu nakti, runājot ar sirdi, kas šķiet autentiski pusaudža. (Mazāks par “Oza vedni” kostīmiem.)
The pop-music-savvy have niche references: Catesby telling Wyatt to put a pair of P13 pickups in a ’68 Silvertone guitar; going from two to five chords; The Word drops a steep rock club (40 watts, 9:30). “That’s not some f– Squier I got for Christmas,” Neil yells as his Gretsch White Falcon disappears. When Charlie rides his bike off the rooftop into the swimming pool in the middle of Pete’s party, it’s almost certainly a nod to the “I’m a Golden God” scene from “Almost Famous”; they later nick the idea from the Beatles.
Like other manufactured bands before them, the line between what’s real and what’s retail has blurred. You can buy Runarounds branded merch (T-shirts and hoodies, beach towels, sweatbands, lighters). You can stream their “Album,” co -produced by Talking Head’s Jerry Harrison and released by the actual major label Arista, on all the usual music platforms. They have dates scheduled from mid-September to late October in the South, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast at Legit Rock Hall, though whether they’ll identify themselves by their character names is unknown to me. (That wasn’t a problem for the Monkees, who simply used their own.) I doubt they’ll be sleeping on floors or tripping over Motel 6 unless things are worse than I know at Amazon. If they’re splitting rides, I hope they’re more responsible with it than the characters they play.
It’s a fluffy show, sometimes catching something real, often impossible, never entirely funny. But the audience it’s aimed at may be happy enough with an aspirational tale that reflects their own feelings about their own feelings, for which the music itself is a megaphone and metaphor.
“All good pop songs are a little bit thick,” says Charlie.
“Maybe,” Sophie replies, which is the correct answer.
