Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sublime supernatural drama has drugs, drinking, violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Trickster
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Based on bestsellling trilogy of novels by Indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson, TRICKSTER is a supernatural mystery steeped in Canadian First Nations culture and mythology. Jared (Joel Oulette) is an Indigenous teen struggling to support his family. His mom Maggie (Crystle Lightning) has an undiagnosed mental illness and self-medicates with drugs and alcohol; his unreliable dad Phil (Craig Lauzon) is battling a painkiller addiction and is basically unemployable. Jared holds down an after-school job at a fast food restaurant and makes and sells ecstasy on the side to pay the rent and keep everyone fed. But things get a lot more complicated when he starts seeing strange things: talking ravens, shapeshifting monsters, taunting doppelgängers. Just what lies in the past and present of Jared's family, his hometown, and Jared himself that's threatening it all now?
Is It Any Good?
Gritty, brimming with magic, and set in a Canadian world that's as mesmerizingly cool as it is grim, this series breaks the mold for coming of age supernatural mysteries. Jared already has a troubled life when we meet him: he's foundering at school and supporting both of his unstable parents with his fast-food wages, as well as by manufacturing and selling ecstasy to local teens. He lives in a trailer with his mom in a dead-end town, who sometimes talks to people no one else can see, and who has an ominous relationship with a scary local dealer. But then Jared starts seeing things like strangely sentient ravens and a steely eyed man who's entirely too curious about Jared's life (and already seems to know too much). "Crazy's hereditary, right?" he asks his budddy Crashpad (Nathan Alexis). But it's not crazy coming for Jared, it's something else altogether, and to reveal more would be a crime against this bewitching and utterly unique drama.
Who is Jared, and exactly what powers does he have? How is his mom's quixotic, unbalanced nature and shadowy past wrapped up in his own identity? And just what does the arrival of oil and gas company Terminal (a portentous name if we ever heard one) have to do with both Jared and with his home? The answers are slowly spooled out as Jared struggles both against the new mysteries in his life, and the problems he already had, against a background with many First Nations details: a neighbor carrying spoiled moose meat, Crashpad's t-shirts, which declare him a member of the "Sasquatch Research Team," or complain "I was told there'd be fry bread." It's a world that's as enchanting as it is freaky, as relatable as it is singular, making Trickster an unmissable supernatural treat.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the Indigenous represenation in Trickster. Is it obvious? Is it unrealistic? What demonstrates that Trickster is set in Canada? What shows that Jared, Maggie, Crashpad and other characters are Indigenous? Are these common aspects of TV shows or movies you have seen? Does it make the story more interesting?
Trickster is adapted from a series of books. Must you have read the books to appreciate the show? Does knowing the source material improve upon or detract from your enjoyment of a TV show or movie adaptation? People often say the book is better than the movie or show, what do you think?
Does the amount of drinking and drug use in Trickster seem realistic? How do drugs affect Jared's life negatively? Does the show realistically depict the consequences of addiction?
How do the characters in Trickster demonstrate courage and perseverance? Why are these important character strengths?
TV Details
- Premiere date : January 12, 2021
- Cast : Joel Oulette , Crystle Lightning , Kalani Queypo
- Network : CW
- Genre : Drama
- Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance
- TV rating :
- Last updated : January 11, 2021
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