Parents' Guide to The Body

With a vibe that's like Yellowjackets meets Bring It On plus a dash of Carrie, this series has a fantastic cast and intriguing themes beneath the surface. Creator Quinn Shephard has said that she wrote The Body in the year after coming out as gay, and you can feel it: this drama has a Pretty Little Liars-esque premise but meditates on much more, with imagery and plotlines that communicate deep teen angst with the Catholic faith, repressed queer desire, and, most of all, the ache of trying to fit in while beset with the knowledge that revealing your inner self would doom you to pariah status. The Body is literally dark (you may find yourself adjusting your screen's brightness), and murky in terms of story, too, though the series' villain Lisbeth is revealed early to viewers, an interesting choice that allows us to watch her working her Machiavellian moves within an oblivious group of her peers.

But Lisbeth isn't easy to hate. She's humanized with a background that practically screams Carrie: her ultra-religious recluse of a mom doesn't lock her in a closet, but her sensibilities have marked her daughter as a decided outcast whose ambitions emerge in ways we can't help empathizing with even as we see the damage they cause. In a memorable moment in The Body's first episode, she shares that as a child she had overwhelming religious ecstasies, but she lost that ability; the seeming unity she witnesses amongst the dance team looks like the next best thing and she yearns to be included. While her classmates understand the assignment at a wild Halloween party and dress as devils, angels, and sexy nurses, Lisbeth gets it just slightly, heartbreakingly wrong. Her costume? "Slutty God." She's the most interesting character, but hardly the only one; Elise and Anya share a wicked chemistry (and would share more if that wasn't a mortal social sin); Jackson Kelly is wide-eyed and sincere as Lisbeth's little brother Leo, and sidelined dance team member Maddie undergoes a fascinating transition from a bland doormat to a questing spiritual seeker. It all adds up to a wild ride that recalls other pop culture favorites, but ultimately blazes its own path.