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Monday, March 13, 2017

A DCOS Review : Andi Mack as Disney tries something new

Opinion  Disney Channel 

                                                                   Disney 

        The last Disney Channel original series I wrote about was "Girl Meets World" in 2014, and they've done other shows past that and GMW ended last year after 3 seasons, but I've not done any other series for review.   But a new series that is set to come out in April  caught my eye, because it was created by the same person who did "Lizzie McGuire" one of my favorite all time sitcoms from any channel.

     The series was promoted with this :



      The main character , Andi Mack (played by Peyton Elizabeht Lee)  says that her sister Bex is coming home for her birthday and she has big surprise.  It's a hook alright, to find out what the secret is.   This is  a Disney Channel series though , what could the surprise be?    

 Disney Channel has released the first episode to their youtube channel (free to view ) and on their watchdisneychannel website / app, along with the 2nd episode (watch with cable sign in) both parts to air on TV April 8th at 8:30pmet.    So I watched the first episode  when it was released on March 10th and well here's a little synopsis.

      Much like a series that came to Disney Channel in 2016 , called "Stuck in the Middle"  it doesn't have laughter either a live studio audience or laugh track to laugh or make a wooing sound , or other sounds.    We are introduced to Andi and her two friends, Cyrus and Buffy.   She rides in on a new motor scooter that she bought with some money from trading in her bike and watching a neighbor's cats.  Her mother doesn't know she bought the scooter and from Buffy and Cyrus' statements it seems she's the kind of person who wouldn't want her twelve almost thirteen year old daughter to have such a thing.  Also, tomorrow is her birthday.   When she and her friends walk over to  Andi's house a motor cycle shows up  and its rider is her older sister,  Bex (played by Lilan Bowden ). Bex seems toe be the cooler older sister who hasn't been around much.

       Also points go to the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" reference. (Also makes you feel something when Buffy says a Television series from the last century) Bex is there by surprise and from Andi's questioning , it seems their mother might not like surprises.   The father seems to be very happy his oldest daughter has showed up , the mother seems a bit shocked and annoyed. Bex announces that she is staying for a while trying to get her life back on track.
   
    The show's intro  kind of gave me a clue about something in Andi's character where she is able to craft and Bex sees that her sister can make bracelets out of anything.  Bex has a box that she keeps it's like a diary to her. Her mother doesn't want Bex to show the box to Andi because there are things she doesn't need to see or know.  Bex of course shows her the box anyway it seems to be filled with pictures and objects of Bex's life.   The next day, Andi's birthday  Bex gets Andi a gift -an afternoon learning ultimate Frisbee  with a boy Andi has a crush on named Jonah Beck. (He's in the opening intro credit so he will be important )  When Andi finds out that Jonah has a girlfriend , who's in Highschool (9th grade) she gets mad at Bex and goes home. Jonah sends her a text and that changes her mood.

 This is a spoiler territory so if you haven't watched the episode : watch it here :
 and then come back or if you already watch you can continue after the jump , or you need the spoiler as way to get you to watch then sure move on.  (It's also on the app and website along with episode 2)






   Spoiler below: 



      This is the part the surprised me , when they promoted a surprise there was nothing like this I was expecting.   Bex ends up revealing that she is not Andi's sister  but infact is Andi's real mother. The parents she's been growing up with are her grandparents.  Andi of course , is shocked and upset by this.   Bex talks to her and tries to explain that she's open to listening when Andi is ready.  Andi does more ultimate Frisbee  and takes off the training wheels off the motor scooter.

     The first episode ends with a coming up scene to what happens in episode 2  and episode 2 has one as well.

       Like I said before this series is different to what you would find on Disney Channel or if you haven't watched the channel or heard of anything about the channel since like 2008 would air.  It's a series that looks to be addressing topics that  normally aren't done on a channel like this.  Disney Channel's sister channel Freeform when it was ABC Family , this sounds like it would be program made for that.  It's a comedy-drama  there are some laughs and it's not over the top emotional drama, but it's not goofy or off the wall comedy either.  I think it has a great potential to be a good series.  It feels grounded like "Lizzie McGuire" was.  From watching episode 2 it seems to be a series that  will have a few main plot lines : the adjustment of the family  to this new arrangement.  Bex hasn't been there much and  how is Andi to handle now this person being her mother,  while Celia ,the grandmother has been raising this girl as her own for 13 years and how is she going to handle now having to share this with not just her husband with her daughter? Also, how is Bex going to handle now being known as the mother, and being part of her family that she's been away from for such a long time.  Episode 2 showed subtlety how  Bex felt lost in her family.   The father/grandfather character  is not mentioned in the credits for some reason but he seems to be more understanding of this situation.  I like that he's not the too dumb to live or the ditzy , aloof, lazy father, hopefully we'll see how he plays a key part in his family's adjustment.   Another plot  looks to be the  Jonah and Andi's relationship and this includes his girlfriend , Amber, Hopefully whatever happens in that it will be done well.
 
      I think this is a good series if you are a family to have something to watch together , it's something you if you are an adult can watch by yourself.  The show doesn't so far seem preachy or condescending.   Some might say they could have held off on the whole  revealing the parent thing , but I think it works well for starting with that because the show can  work on how all that works out.  While at the same time it's a series about the change over to being teen and all the mess that brings, which people in that age group can relate to and those older can relate to in memory.  The cast is well done I like the characters.   I hope we  see more Andi's friends as well, I am not trying to compare this to Lizzie Mcguire , but that's going to happen for  a couple reasons, one of things that worked well on the show was the friendship relationships also were a big part of that show.  

   I  hope it does well and from the first two episodes it seems like it will be a well done series.
You watch the series premiere on Disney Channel April 7th at 8:30pmet.



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