Have You Watched Forever Yet?
Scrolling through 12 streaming platforms but still can’t find something to watch? You’re not alone. Our television columnist Michel Ghanem, a.k.a. @tvscholar, watches over 160 seasons of television each year, and he is here for you. Perhaps you’re in the mood for a hidden gem sitting undiscovered on a streamer or a show with mysteries so tantalizing we can’t stop thinking about it. It’s all about carving out time for the shows that are actually worth your time, or “appointment viewing.” Fire up that group chat because we’ve got some unpacking to do.
We’re still reeling from last month’s finale of Dying for Sex, the FX miniseries starring Michelle Williams. This month, we recommend a nice slow burn: Forever, Mara Brock Akil’s Netflix adaptation of the iconic 1975 Judy Blume novel of the same name. Akil transforms the source material into a thoughtful, charming story about two high-school teens — played by Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. — who navigate falling in love under the crushing pressure of college applications.
Why should I prioritize Forever this month?
Teen dramas can be hit or miss. Luckily, Forever, inspired by the Judy Blume novel of the same name and under the helm of veteran showrunner Mara Brock Akil, it’s a worthwhile binge that will charm its way into your heart. Forever had me reminiscing on my late high-school experiences, the awkward tenderness of a first romance, and leaning into it all with the help of a well-directed and written show with an excellent soundtrack. The series takes its time to develop the relationship between Keisha (Lovie Simone) and Justin (Michael Cooper Jr.), two Los Angeles high-school juniors. Having lost touch since elementary school, they reconnect at a New Year’s Eve party and fall for each other instantly.
Where can I watch it?
All eight, 50-minute episodes premiered on Netflix on May 8. There’s no news yet on if it’s been renewed for a second season.
How does it stack up against other teen shows?
Forever falls into some conventions of the contemporary teen genre: a love triangle, avoidable fights stemming from texting miscommunications, and cockblocking parents. But the realistic stakes are what make it so compelling. Well-written scripts authentically understand both Justin’s and Keisha’s idiosyncrasies and what motivates their decisions. It’s also groundbreaking when you consider that Forever is one of Netflix’s few shows to have a predominantly Black cast.
We’ve become accustomed to zippy, poppy teen shows that barrel through plot, like Riverdale or The Summer I Turned Pretty. Forever takes place over a pre-pandemic year but unspools gently as we get to know our protagonists and their families. It’s anchored by a strong cast: Cooper plays Justin as a likable and slightly nerdy Naruto-watching teen with ADHD, who produces music in his spare time, while his attentive and solidly middle-class parents (played wonderfully by Karen Pittman andsWood Harri) pressure him to pursue a basketball scholarship for his college applications.
On the other hand, Simone’s Keisha is a studious track star reeling from a sex-tape scandal that forced her to change schools and start over while hiding much of the drama with her ex Christian (Xavier Mills) from her single mom (played by Xosha Roquemore, who you might recognize from The Mindy Project). Keisha’s move came at a cost, with her mom working two jobs to support her daughter. When misunderstandings arise between her and Justin in their early days of dating, as they often do in real life, those stakes underpin her decisions — like choosing to go to prom with her ex because her mom splurged on an expensive prom dress for her. She does not always make the mature choice, but it is easy to empathize with both sides of the story. That said, I spent the whole series wishing that someone would take the block button away from these kids, who cut each other off at the drop of a hat. At least that leads to entertaining scenes with Justin or Keisha trying to find each other in the real world after a block-worthy fight.
After the slow burn of the first few episodes, Forever comes alive in the back half of the season. Simone and Cooper’s chemistry crackles, and the two teens share many firsts — first kiss, first awkward sexual experience, first major fight — as they become more intertwined. It’s not easy being a teen in your final years of high school when you’re forced to make life-altering decisions about what to study and where, all before your frontal lobe has even developed. Forever approaches life gently and with care, while also staying specific in its exploration of the Black teen experience in America.
If you liked Forever, you might also like …
It’s an obvious comparison, but at times Forever seems to be in conversation with The Summer I Turned Pretty. The fifth episode in particular, one of the strongest of the season, feels like it has enough material for an eventual crossover. Beautifully directed by Akil, the teens find themselves in Martha’s Vineyard. The beachy, warm days feel reminiscent of Belly’s summer love triangles in TSITP. But Forever is telling a story less concerned about the will they, won’t they and more grounded in building out Keisha and Justin’s relationship among the various speed bumps of being a teen in high school.
Akil has always been interested in exploring and depicting Black love, dating, and singlehood in her writing. She worked on eight seasons of the popular sitcom Girlfriends in the early 2000s and developed the BET drama Being Mary Jane for five seasons. The latter series follows Gabrielle Union as a news anchor in Atlanta as she tries to find “the one,” with some of its best episodes directed by Regina King (who also directed Forever’s pilot).
Reservation Dogs comes to mind as another teen show committed to character-driven storytelling. The critically acclaimed FX comedy follows a group of Indigenous teens in rural Oklahoma as they navigate life on a reservation and grieve a friend while dreaming of escaping to Los Angeles. It is notably more abstract than Forever, and less concerned with romantic relationships, but still satisfies that craving for a show that is curious about the interiority of its characters, making it a wonderful entry into the teen-TV canon.