Common Sense Media Review
By Emily Ashby
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Tech-savvy teens battle cyberenemies in action series.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Reboot: The Guardian Code
What's the Story?
Four tech-savvy teens team up to battle a sinister hacker and the army of viruses he unleashes in cyberspace in REBOOT: THE GUARDIAN CODE. The adventure begins when Austin (Ty Wood), Parker (Ajay Friese), Trey (Gabriel Darku), and Tamra (Sydney Scotia) are summoned to their new high school's mysterious Room 0 on their first day and suddenly find themselves transported into virtual reality, assuming the forms of the avatars they use in a popular game. With the guidance of an avatar named VERA (Hannah Vandenbygaart), these predestined Guardians of Cyberspace match wits and strength with the shadowy Sourcerer (Bob Frazer) and his cybergeneral, Megabyte (Timothy E. Brummond), for the preservation of cyberspace itself.
Is It Any Good?
A new breed of superheroes debuts in this series that's full of action with the unusual twist of a cyberspace setting. Gamers and budding coders will most enjoy how it blends the traditions of superheroes-and-villains stories with a new generation of visuals, using the tricks and terms that technology makes available. Reboot brings humans face to face with avatars and, through a coding accident, brings avatars into the human world when VERA arrives in the flesh in the Guardians' school and lightens the mood with her ill-fated attempts to blend in.
It's easy to root for this unlikely group of teen heroes and to make note of how their shared experiences teach them about trust, friendship, teamwork, and their respective character strengths. The opposite could be said about the lurking Sourcerer, whose motivations aren't entirely clear but whose determination to disrupt and create mayhem grows stronger the more victories the Guardians log against him. With likable central characters (including a couple of girls who hold their own among their male counterparts) and a plot that incorporates and illustrates coding concepts, Reboot: The Guardian Code will appeal to kids with an interest in these STEM subjects.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what strengths they see embodied in the characters in Reboot: The Guardian Code, both good and bad. How do the Guardians commit themselves to teamwork? How does the entire group suffer when one member of the team is down?
Why do some of the Guardians embrace their destinies quickly and easily while others are more hesitant to? Kids: Do your doubts about your abilities ever interfere with your ability to succeed? How important is a willingness to try again after you fail?
Does this series do a good job incorporating coding and computer topics in a creative way? If your kids are already into these subjects, talk about how understanding them ahead of time affected their enjoyment of the show. If these are new concepts, are they inspired to learn more about coding? What resources exist for this kind of learning?
TV Details
- Premiere date : March 30, 2018
- Cast : Ty Wood , Ajay Friese , Gabriel Darku , Sydney Scotia
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Adventures , School ( High School ) , STEM
- Character Strengths : Teamwork
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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