Netflix’s original series, Grand Army premiered on October 16, 2020, and is loosely based on Katie Cappiello’s “Slut: The Play.” Cappiello came to Sinclair in 2019 to talk about her play. There was also a production of the play by Sinclair Theatre on the topic of Rape Culture. The Clarion’s own Ayzha Middlebrooks attended the event.
Grand Army is set in New York during the start of 2020. It follows the lives of several Grand Army High School students over the course of their year. We follow Dominique, Joey, Jayson, Sid and Leila through their lives in high school. The series does make mention of the COVID pandemic at one point towards the end of the season, so the show is set in our timeline, but no one wears masks or is under quarantine, so it’s clear this is early in the pandemic. The first episode focuses on a terror attack that takes place near Grand Army.
Dominique Pierre is a Haitian-American teenager who lives with her mother, sister, and her sister’s two children. When her sister injures herself at work and loses her job, Dom takes it upon herself to ensure that her family can maintain their home and their way of life. She begins to do hair and sell her signature hair cream, as well as trying to keep up with school and her desired internship as well. This results in her making less than desirable choices and almost threatens her entire academic career.
Her mother wants her to marry a friend’s nephew, who needs his green card. They will pay Dom’s family $10,000 for the marriage, which would secure her family’s home and help their situation greatly. She refuses at first, not wanting to marry someone just for money, and assures her family she can do it. However, after disastrous mistakes, she agrees. Before she can go through with it, her mom frees her from the obligation and lets her resume her relationship with John.
Joey Del Marco is an American teenager thought of as one of the most popular girls at Grand Army. She’s the girl that most want to be. She’s on the dance squad, has a good group of friends and doesn’t care much what others think of her. One night, she goes out to the movies with her friends Luke, Tim and George. They all get high and drunk and George and Luke end up sexually assaulting Joey while Tim does nothing but watch. Joey tries to clean herself up at Luke’s party after and begins spiraling into a depression. This results in her beginning to pull her hair out in an act of stress relief. She eventually tells her mom what happened and begins to form a case against the boys. No one believes her, besides her family, which only makes things worse. She ends up dropping out of Grand Army and going to a Catholic school. In the end, her case is not settled, and though she finds herself again, Tim is now on the verge of coming clean.
Siddhartha ‘Sid’ Pakam is a gay Indian-American teenager on the Grand Army swim team. He is trying to work on an essay for Harvard, but can’t find the one thing that makes him stand out. However, he’s in the closet as gay and decides to use that to his advantage. He writes about that for his essay and keeps it secret. However, one of the boys on the swim team that Sid doesn’t get along with decides to take advantage of Sid’s laptop sitting open and releases his essay to the entire school via social media, thus outing Sid to the entire school.
Eventually, his parents find out and aren’t happy. His father refuses to let him help in the restaurant fearing ‘how it will look’. This is under the guise of people asking about Sid’s injuries to his face after a fight, but Sid confronts his parents about it, stating that he wants them to accept it and talk about it. Sid gets into Harvard and things are looking up for him by the end of the season.
Jayson Jackson and his friend Owen start off the season stealing Dom’s wallet during a school lockdown due to the terror attack, which results in Owen being banned from school. He drops out and begins going to a smaller public school. Jayson feels responsible because he was the one who gave the board at the hearing the information accidentally that they needed to suspend Owen. He plans a sit-in at the school in Owen’s honor as well as in honor of all the other POC kids who get suspended and end up falling off the map, as well as the unfair treatment of POC kids. He also is given Owen’s spot in the big Saxophone contest coming up. He’s unsure about playing because it wasn’t his spot originally, and he feels like he’s stepping on Owen’s spot. When he finally gets to the performance, he puts tape over his mouth and holds his fist up in protest.
Leila Kwan Zimmer is a Chinese-American teenager from a Jewish family who adopted her as a child. She struggles to find her place in the world and in high school. She believes that she is the center of her own universe and that everything revolves around her. She also thinks that people hate her who don’t and hates people who haven’t really done anything to her. Throughout the series, she creates comics that center around her desire to have sex, set in a zombie apocalypse style universe. Leila tries to make amends and make herself feel better but goes about it the wrong way, keeping centered on herself. She ends up sparking a bomb threat.
Grand Army is a brutal, raw depiction of high school, and one of the first shows I’ve seen that actually gets it decently right on what high school is like. It doesn’t make things up and shows the real struggles that high schoolers face. The show is real and doesn’t bother showcasing just the highlights of life. It also follows how rape cases would pretty much go, showing the real parts of it. Grand Army keeps you entranced and wanting to watch, even though the less than interesting characters, such as Leila who doesn’t seem important to the plot. The show is a must-watch for anyone who wants to know what high school is really like, or who wants to find a show with relatable characters. Currently, there’s only one season but I’m certain with a cast like this and a plot line that has room to continue, I’m sure there’s a second season in the works. However, it may be delayed due to the pandemic and COVID restrictions.
The way the show takes time to flesh out each character without overwhelming the viewer is something unique to Grand Army. You’re able to get a sense of who each person is, and what their goals, dreams and ambitions are, as well as their true personality. Once I started watching, I couldn’t stop. I ended up finishing the show inside of a week. I will warn you, the show does have some nudity, I believe a breast or two were shown but nothing else. Grand Army is streaming now on Netflix.
Jeri Hensley
Creative Director/Reporter