There’s nothing especially remarkable about the Netflix teen drama DI4RIES, aside from the fact that the teens in it live on a gorgeously picturesque Italian island. Despite that fact, they’re still dealing with the tortured heartache of first crushes, trying out for sports, and getting in trouble with authority figures. Devoid of sex or any truly high stakes, the show is designed to appeal to the tween sector, and it’s the perfect soapy treat for that middle-school age group.
Opening Shot: A teenage boy and girl ride their bikes to school together. After they park their bikes, they walk into school with fingers interlaced. And then, with all their friends watching, they kiss.
The Gist: The show opens with Pietro (Andrea Arru) daydreaming about how he wishes his life was going: Arriving at his middle school with his crush, Livia (Flavia Leone) on his arm and all his best friends with him. Alas, it was all a daydream. At the end of the first season, the school that Pietro and all of his friends attended, Galileo Galilei Middle School, closed down despite the students’ attempts and protests to save it. And Pietro and Livia, despite starting a fling last spring, broke up when Livia learned that Pietro used her as a pawn in a bet where Pietro wagered his friend Giulio that he could kiss both her and another girl, Arianna.
As the new school year begins, Pietro announces that he’s living his “worst nightmare” now that he’s attending a new school, Marina Grande, and he has to sit through classes with Livia, who looks like she’s throwing daggers at him with her eyes.
Among Pietro and Livia’s core group of friends are Giulio and Arianna, who are now a couple, Isabel, Daniele, Mirko, and Monica, who have all been transplanted from their beloved middle school to a new school where they find themselves ignored by many of the students who have been going to the school already. Livia is finding it easier to assimilate because she spent the summer in London attending a school program with one of their new classmates, Katia, but everyone else finds themselves in a contentious situation, treated with hostility by the cool kids.
Joining the fray this year is Bianca; not only is she Giulio’s cousin, but her mother is also the local coach of the basketball team Pietro is dying to be on. While Pietro spends most of the episode (which is told from his point of view, each episode in the season is told from a different classmate’s POV) pining for Livia, he finds a new friend in Bianca, who is also struggling to find her footing at the school and with her family these days.
The episode’s final act sees Pietro and his friends shut out of a party thrown by the Marina Grande students who explicitly put a sign saying that they’re not allowed inside (except for Livia, who was already inside and unaware that her old friends were being iced out). Bianca invites the friends to the beachside cafe her mom owns to have a party of their own, and while they’re there, she and Pietro kiss… just as Livia comes in and spots them. Dun dun duuunh!
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? There’s a wholesomeness to DI4RIES, mainly due to the fact that the students in the series are meant to be around 13 or 14 and still relatively innocent. It’s like a junior version of Degrassi or – and I’m really dating myself here – Swans Crossing.
Our Take: As an adult, I often look back at the Judy Blume books I read as a kid and marvel at the way Blume captured the passion, anxiety, and innocence of adolescence. Blume’s authenticity is one of the reasons her work remains so impactful, and in a similar way, DI4RIES captures that same authenticity of feelings: the way it hurts when a crush rejects you, the high stakes of trying out for the basketball team and wanting, no, needing, to get on it.
Where DI4RIES could have fallen into schlocky teen melodrama, it creates a community with its characters and makes you root for them, even as they have conflicts and turmoil among themselves. I wouldn’t say this is must-see-TV that bridges generation gaps, but it’s a show geared toward kids who are just starting to experience the drama (and trauma) of middle school and the process of growing up.
Sex and Skin: None, but there is some very PG kissing.
Parting Shot: Livia walks away after seeing Pietro and Bianca share a kiss. Pietro unsuccessfully tries to follow after her, and then breaks the fourth wall to ask us, “Now what?”
Memorable Dialogue: “You’ve changed,” Pietro tells Livia when he sees her for the first time – with dyed blue hair – since their summer break. “And I guess you haven’t changed at all,” she tells him, still mad for the way he treated her over the last school year.
Our Call: STREAM IT! If you are a teen (or know one) looking for a drama about the struggles of adolescents and friendship, DI4RIES is a solid option for middle-grade audiences looking for reassurance that, yes, this age is hard even if you live one one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.