Prime Video is hoping to add some more rock and roll to their streaming slate with the brand new teen drama series The Runarounds. From the mind of Outer Banks co-creator Jonas Pate comes this North Carolina-set show about a group of recent high school graduates who hope to make it big as a band before the clock runs out on their summer together. Filled with fresh faces looking to make a splash in music both in the show and in real life, The Runaround attempts to pay homage to ’80s rock culture while turning its titular band into the next big thing on and offscreen. Does it suucced? Keep reading to find out.
Opening Shot: An electric guitar is plugged into an amp before a teen boy jams out in his room, getting lost in the music. He’s broken out of his reverie by his little sister asking what he calls that song before precociously pitching “Wasted Youth” to him. She adds that she’s surprised he actually got into college, and he sort of disinterestedly replies, “Yeah, one out of 12,” before asking if that’s all she came into his room to badger him about. Nope, turns out she’s passing on the message that he’s late for school, causing him to sprint out the door as his mother chides, “No more guitar before school, Charlie!”
The Gist: Charlie Cooper (William Lipton) is an 18-year-old reckless dreamer from Wilmington, North Carolina, who has been obsessed with playing guitar and making music all his life. For the past year, he and his friends have been in a band they classily dubbed “Futhermucker,” and he believes in their talent enough that he’s opted to skip out on college in favor of focusing on music. As he continues to let his parents (Hayes MacArthur and Brooklyn Decker) and little sister (Willa Dunn) think that he’s attending college in the Fall, Charlie only has this last summer to make the band blow up before he’s forced to confront the reality of his risky gamble.
In addition to Charlie, Futhermucker consists of irreverent singer and guitar player Neil “Buddha” Crosby (Axel Ellis), Princeton-bound lead guitarist Topher Park (Jeremy Yun), and hapless yet likeable drummer Pete Antuna (Maximo Salas). As a unit, they’re pretty good… except for Pete. An ill-fated party at Pete’s house is the nail in the coffin for the other guys to accept that, as much as they love Pete, they need a new drummer who can actually stay on the beat, eventually leading them to pick up cocky and talented drummer Bez Willis (Zendé Murdock), as well as his anxious, songwriter best friend Wyatt Wysong (Jesse Golliher). With their new members and an eager manager in Pete, the group opts for a fresh start by rebranding as The Runarounds.
As the band tries to find their footing and sound as a newly-formed squad, they also must navigate various challenges off-stage. Charlie hits some snags while pursuing a relationship with his longtime crush, hardworking star-student Sophia Kinney (Lilah Pate), who has worked herself to the bone trying to overcompensate for her father’s self-medicating and struggles since her mother died several years prior. Additionally, the rest of the band each has their own family drama and personal dilemmas that raise the stakes for The Roundabouts to succeed . They all have a lot to work through, but if anyone can defy the odds, it’s this plucky group of young musicians with big ambitions of becoming rock gods..
What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: The Runarounds is kind of like if you combined Nickelodeon musical sitcom Big Time Rush with musical drama miniseries Daisy Jones & the Six, then added the general ambiance of fellow North Carolina-set teen drama series Outer Banks.
Our Take: I’m conflicted on how to feel about The Runarounds. On one hand, the acting isn’t the best across the board, weighed down by some overdone performances and corny dialogue that can’t help but make you physically cringe at times. But on the other hand, what are high school kids (especially teen boys who fancy themselves poets and artists, let’s be honest) if not corny and cringe? The longer I watched the first episode of the show, the more I couldn’t help but be endeared to the characters and their story.
Sure, there are characters that are so overzealous and embarrassing that it’s somewhat off-putting at times, but I’d rather have characters and actors who try too hard or lead with emotion than ironically detached “cool kids” who’d rather save face by giving too little. It’s honestly pretty rock and roll to embrace the messy, cringe-worthy, and painful parts of life while trying to turn them into art, and I really do respect this series for that.
But what ultimately saves The Runarounds and makes you feel compelled to continue watching is the music. All of the actors in the band are truly great musicians who play with joy and passion that you can’t help but find charming. Not only was it refreshing to see so many actors who look like normal teens, but it was even nicer to see them all appear so genuinely jazzed about music and this project. They all appear to have a lot of fun making this, and that’s something that the audience can feel through the screen.
Sex and Skin: None in this episode, but there’s underage drinking, drugs, and rock and roll, so it’s not a stretch to assume that sex might occur in the show down the line.
Parting Shot: As we see the band basking in the glow of a successful first gig, we hear a voiceover from Charlie: “Tonight, we became The Runarounds. Together, we made high school rock and roll history. Are my parents still under the impression I’m going to college in three months? Yes, and that’s a problem. But tonight, I found my band.” Then we end on a close-up of Wyatt, who sums it all up with a succinct, “Rock gods, motherfucker!”
Sleeper Star: Axel Ellis has indescribable charm as Neil “Buddha” Crosby. He never really seems like he’s trying too hard, yet still manages to look like he’s always being sincere and having fun, culminating in the kind of easy coolness that makes him feel like a real budding rock star.
Most Pilot-y Line: This exposition-heavy monologue from Charlie definitely fits the bill as a pilot-y inner monologue:
“If things are gonna happen for me, with this band, with Sophia, with everything, it’s gotta happen this summer. If it doesn’t, then everyone’s gonna go off to college or get a real job, and I’m gonna be right here, working in a vape shop with Pete. The band will be done, and everything we dreamed of doing will be over. So before that happens, I want to know that I gave it everything I had. That I refused to go gently into that good night.”
Our Call: The Runarounds isn’t for everyone, and while some viewers may be put off by the teenage drama and moments of cringiness, plenty of others will happily embrace this nostalgic and simple story with open arms.
At the end of the day, this show was clearly made with a genuine passion and love for music (perhaps more so than serious storytelling), so if you vibe with that, you should STREAM IT if you want an unchallenging, youthful, and toe-tapping series to jam out to this month.