''Between'' is a Canadian
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
drama television series which debuted May 21, 2015 on
Citytv. Created by
Michael McGowan, the series stars
Jennette McCurdy
Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American writer, director, podcaster, singer and former actress. McCurdy's breakthrough role as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon sitcom '' iCarly'' (2007–2012) earned her various awards ...
as Wiley Day, a pregnant teenage daughter of a minister living in the small town of Pretty Lake, which is coping with a mysterious disease that has killed everybody over the age of 21.
The series is a co-production between Citytv and
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
, which distributes the series outside Canada as a
Netflix Original Series
Netflix is an American global Internet streaming-on-demand media provider that has distributed a number of original streaming television shows, including original series, specials, miniseries, and documentaries and films. Netflix's original pro ...
.
The series was renewed for a second season on July 8, 2015, which premiered on June 30, 2016. Though the series was never officially
cancelled, no news has been released about the series since the last episode of the second season aired on August 4, 2016.
Plot
''Between'' is the story of a small town called Pretty Lake and surrounding rural area under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody aged 22 and older. The series also explores numerous themes: the power vacuum that results when the government quarantines a 10 square mile zone and leaves the inhabitants to fend for themselves; the desire of inhabitants to escape, ignoring that they will spread the deadly disease to the entire planet; and the effect of hormonal teenaged/young adult angst becoming the guiding force for an entire community.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Jennette McCurdy
Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American writer, director, podcaster, singer and former actress. McCurdy's breakthrough role as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon sitcom '' iCarly'' (2007–2012) earned her various awards ...
as Wiley Day
*
Jesse Carere as Adam Jones
* Ryan Allen as Gord
*
Justin Kelly as Chuck Lott Jr.
* Kyle Mac as Ronnie Creeker
* Jack Murray as Mark
*
Brooke Palsson as Melissa Day (season 1)
* Stephen Bogaert as Charles Lott Sr., Chuck's father (season 1)
*
Samantha Munro
Samantha Munro (born October 19, 1990) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Anya MacPherson on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. She also played the role of Shannen Doherty in Lifetime's 2015 television film ''The Unauthorized ...
as Stacey
*
Rick Roberts as Clarence Jones, Adam's father (season 1)
* Steven Grayhm as Liam Cullen (season 2)
*
Percy Hynes White as Harrison (guest season 1, main season 2)
* Mercedes Morris as Renee Tofoli (season 2)
*
Shailyn Pierre-Dixon as Frances (recurring season 1, main season 2)
*
Jordan Todosey
Jordan Todosey ( , born February 8, 1995) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Adam Torres, the first transgender character on the long-running TV series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', and as Lizzie McDonald on ''Life wit ...
as Tracey Creeker (recurring season 1, main season 2)
*
Rosemary Dunsmore
Rosemary Dunsmore (born July 13, 1952) is a Canadian TV, film, and theatre actress, director, and educator. She was awarded a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her 1982 performance in ''Straight Ahead/Blind Dancers''. In 2009 she won the ACTRA Award f ...
as Minister Miller (recurring season 1, main season 2)
*
Pascal Langdale
Pascal Langlois, better known as Pascal Langdale, is an English actor and voice actor. He has played supporting roles in a number of television dramas since 1999. Langdale also lent his voice and likeness to the critically acclaimed video game '' ...
as Dexter Crane (season 2)
Recurring
* Krystal Nausbaum as Amanda Lott (season 1)
* Niamh Wilson as Lana Lott (season 1)
*
Shailene Garnett
Shailene Garnett is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She is known for starring in a variety of television series, including the CBC Television series '' Diggstown'' (2019–2022) and ''Murdoch Mysteries'' (2018–present), the Freeform series ...
as Ms. Amy Symonds (season 1)
*
Jim Watson as Pat Creeker
* Lucius Hoyos as McCalister
* Abigail Winter as Samantha
* Jesse Bostick as Felix
* Wesley Morgan as Kevin (season 1)
* Canute Gomes as Vince (season 1)
* Sarah Podemski as Ellen (season 1)
*
Rebecca Liddiard
Rebecca Liddiard (born ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Constable Adelaide Stratton in the 2016 trans-Atlantic mystery series ''Houdini & Doyle'' and as morality officer Mary Shaw in ''Frankie Drake Mysteries''.
Life and c ...
as Hanna
* Ian Fisher as John
* Leanne Miller as Helen (season 2)
* Alexander de Jordy as Lamar (season 2)
* Drew Davis as Eric Tofoli (season 2)
Episodes
Season 1 (2015)
Season 2 (2016)
Production
The series was originally set for a season of six one-hour episodes, co-produced and financed by Citytv and Netflix as part of a collaboration deal. The series represents the first major television solo starring role for McCurdy.
Production of season 1 began on October 20, 2014. Citytv aired an exclusive preview of the series during their broadcast of the
57th Annual Grammy Awards, and the series premiered on May 21, 2015.
Jesse Carere was promoted to managing director for season 2. Production of season 2 began in January 2016, with six one-hour episodes like the first season. The series shot through March 11, 2016, with two new characters, Liam (played by Steven Grayhm) and Renee (played by Mercedes Morris).
Web series
''Between the Lines''
As an accompaniment to the show, a web series called ''Between the Lines'' has been released, featuring eight two-minute
webisodes
A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...
. The web series follows the character Amanda as she interviews students at Pretty Lake High as an assignment for the school's yearbook. The series begins pre-outbreak, and continues throughout the quarantine and ensuing chaos, taking an in-depth look at a different character each week. The first installment of the web series was posted on May 22, 2015, with new webisodes made available every week on CityTV.com, after each TV episode broadcasts. The season 2 edition of the web series, a six-part video diary kept by Wiley and Adam, became available on June 23, 2016.
''Inside Between''
In addition, season 2 includes an after-show web component called ''Inside Between'', hosted by Angelina LeDrew-Bonvarlez and
Nicole Stamp
Nicole Stamp is a Canadian television host, director, actor, filmmaker, playwright, and voice actress.
Career
Stamp works as a host, producer, and director, having started her career at TVOntario, where she co-hosted TVOntario's afternoon blo ...
and streaming live (then remaining available) on CityTV.com's ''Between'' page, directly following each TV episode's initial broadcast on City.
Broadcast
Per the collaboration deal, the series airs terrestrially on City,
["Canadian drama series to debut on ‘shomi’ streaming service"]
Global News
Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned- ...
, October 20, 2014. and streams on
Shomi
Shomi (pronounced "show me") was a Canadian subscription video on demand service jointly owned by Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications. The service was viewed as a Canadian-based competitor to Netflix, with a library of 1,200 films and 1 ...
in Canada and
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
internationally.
["Netflix, Rogers’ Shomi to partner on dramatic series"]
''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', October 20, 2014. It is the first series originating from Canada to air on Netflix from its inception.
Episodes air on a week by week basis on City, on Thursdays at 8 pm Eastern Time. During season 1, they were later added on week by week basis on Netflix, for international viewing at 11:30 pm Eastern. Season 1 was added to Netflix's Canadian service one year after its Shomi debut.
For season 2, all six episodes were released on Netflix on July 1, 2016, outside Canada.
Ratings
''Between''s season 1 ratings on Citytv pulled a combined 3.2 million viewers, reaching roughly 10% of the Canadian population. The show performed at 31% in the desirable 18–34 age demographic, significantly above the channel average of 19% for the demographic.
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports a 22% approval rating with an average rating of 4.3/10, based on 18 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A poorly acted regurgitation of post-apocalyptic cliches, ''Between'' falls short of Netflix's other high quality offerings." On the review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the series has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average".
Brian Lowry of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called ''Between'' "an utterly ho-hum addition to Netflix's original lineup". Keith Uhlich of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' wrote, "It's the end of the world as they know it, and viewers won't care." Mike Hale of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called it a "familiar ensemble soap opera with conspiracy-theory embroidery". Mary McNamara of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote, "The town is lovely, the premise solid if overfamiliar, but the script lacks both depth and tension (big problem), and McCurdy is one of the few cast members who can act." Kevin P. Sullivan of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' rated it C− and criticized the show's writing. Joshua Alston of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' rated it C+ and wrote that the series lacks a compelling hook.
See also
*
The Girl Who Owned a City (1975), a United States post-apocalyptic novel by O.T. Nelson detailing a pandemic which killed off anyone over the age of 12.
*
Empty World
''Empty World'' is a 1977 apocalyptic fiction novel written by John Christopher aimed at an adolescent audience. It was Christopher's eleventh such novel. It's centered around Neil Miller and his struggle to come to terms with the loss of his p ...
(1977), a United Kingdom post-apocalyptic novel by John Christopher where a plague kills off all the adults.
*
The Tribe (1999 TV series)
''The Tribe'' is a science fiction drama television series which premiered on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom on 24 April 1999. The series was created by Raymond Thompson and Harry Duffin, and was developed and produced by the Cloud 9 Screen ...
, a New Zealand post-apocalyptic television series where the adult population has been wiped out by a deadly virus and the kids become warring tribes.
*
Jeremiah (TV series)
''Jeremiah'' is an American-Canadian post-apocalyptic action drama television series starring Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner that ran on the Showtime network from 2002 to 2004. The series takes place in a future wherein the adult populati ...
, a United States-Canada post-apocalyptic television series where the adult population has been wiped out by a deadly virus.
*
Gone (novel series)
''Gone'' is a bestselling book series written by Michael Grant.
The series is centered on the fictional Southern California town of Perdido Beach, in which every human aged 15 and older vanishes. The town and surrounding areas become encased ...
(2008), a United States post-apocalyptic novel series by Michael Grant where anyone over the age of 15 disappear mysteriously.
*
The Sparticle Mystery
''The Sparticle Mystery'' is a British science fiction television series written and created by Alison Hume and produced by Sparticles Productions for CBBC. The series follows a group of ten children within modern Britain, where an experiment ...
(2011), a United Kingdom post-apocalyptic television series detailing an experiment that made anyone over the age of 15 disappear mysteriously.
*
The Society (TV series)
''The Society'' is an American mystery teen drama television series created by Christopher Keyser, that was released via streaming on Netflix on May 10, 2019. The series stars Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, Sean Berdy, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jac ...
(2019), a United States post-apocalyptic television series where only a group of teenagers remain after their entire town disappear mysteriously.
*
*
References
External links
*
* Inside Between at IMDb
{{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018)
2010s Canadian drama television series
2015 Canadian television series debuts
2016 Canadian television series endings
2010s Canadian science fiction television series
Canadian drama web series
Citytv original programming
English-language Netflix original programming
Serial drama television series
Teenage pregnancy in television
Television series about viral outbreaks