''The Hollow'' is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

animated

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

series created by Vito Viscomi. The series premiered on

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 ...

on June 8, 2018. Its second season aired on May 8, 2020. On August 31, 2020, the series was cancelled.

Plot

Season 1

Adam, Mira, and Kai are three teenagers who awaken in a room with no memories of themselves or each other; the only clue to their identities are their names written on small slips of paper in their pockets. After emerging from an underground bunker they find themselves in a deep forest and venture forth to discover who they are and how to get home. Along the way, they encounter a strange character that they call "Weirdie" or "the Weird Guy", who teleports them to different regions whenever they ask 'help please'. Each region, however, harbors dangers and obstacles that the group struggle to overcome, while also discovering that they each possess superpowers; Adam has both super strength and agility, Mira can communicate with animals, breathe underwater, and swim like a mermaid, and Kai can cast and manipulate fire, as well as being a technical whiz. The trio encounters a large, talking tree who offers to send them home if they can retrieve a stolen branch of hers that has been turned in to a dangerous weapon called the Ishibo. While attempting to retrieve it, they also encounter another trio of teens: Vanessa, Reeve and Skeet; each with their own superpowers who compete with them for possession of the Ishibo. Regardless of the trials and setbacks that follow, the trio emerges victorious over their rivals and claim the Ishibo. However, Adam's theory that they are in a virtual reality game is confirmed by Weirdie who warns them that the glitches they have seen are a sign that the game's code is corrupted and is on the verge of crashing, and that they must quickly escape the game. After returning the Ishibo to the Iron Tree, she enables them to enter a region where they must fight a dragon. After the dragon's defeat, they enter a portal in the building the dragon was guarding. Once through the portal, they wind up in the same room they started in, except for the fact that there was a green button. They press it, and exit the game, waking up in a VR tournament (filmed as live-action) where they are greeted by the Weirdie (revealed to be the show's host) and cheered by the live audience for winning the game, "The Hollow." However, as the rival team wakes up, Kai notices Vanessa's eye slightly glitching.

Season 2

Adam, Kai and Mira wake up in a place that is visually identical to their homes, but they still believe they are in the Hollow. While exploring this world, they individually find that no one has ever heard of the Hollow. When they first meet, Adam is running away from his childhood bullies, who have remained the same age. They realize that all of their greatest fears, the bullies for Adam, a giant chicken for Kai, and a Victorian-era doll for Mira, have been manifested into the real world. While fighting these fears, they realize that they still have their powers from the Hollow. Adam and Mira agree that they should go to Hollow Games Headquarters, the headquarters of the company that created the Hollow game and tournament, the next day. While Mira is on her way home, she sees Skeet, and decides to go to Hollow Games Headquarters without Adam and Kai. When Adam and Kai meet to go, Mira doesn't come, so they leave for the headquarters, suspecting that she's there. While they're there, they find a portal, like the ones that appear in the Hollow game, and jump into it. Once they go through the portal, they arrive on an island of primitive parrot people, where they find Skeet. They then go to a nuclear power plant and see another team of teens with powers. One of the members of this team is shot and killed, so the Weird Guy appears in order to remove the team from the game. When Adam, Kai, and Skeet see the Weird Guy, they attempt to get his attention, but aren't able to. While escaping from the power plant, they go through a portal with Mira. Together, they fight a giant snail, but it kills Skeet and they are unable to revive him. The owner of the snail, a scientist, invites them to stay with him. While there, they find Reeve and Vanessa, who are seemingly under mind control. They defeat the scientist, releasing Reeve and Vanessa from his control. After leaving the scientist's manor, they find a poster, which features the Weird Guy, and decide to go find him, in order to get answers. On their way, they run into the other team from this game, who have their equivalent of the Ishibo, and battle them. When they find the Weird Guy, he thinks that they are "coding errors," so he uses a portal to send them elsewhere. The crew attempt to find the Weird Guy to get his help, and they convince him that they're real by using his real name, Gustaf. He reveals that the crew are digital copies of their physical selves consciousnesses, taken by the Hollow Game Company for a new game, Hollow Life, that lets players experience an environment populated by NPC versions of past winners of the Hollow. They convince the Weird Guy to disconnect the Hollow Life server from the Hollow game so they can live there in peace. He tells them that while he is doing it, they must not let the game's other team leave the game, by winning or losing. Vanessa reveals to everyone that she cheated in the tournament by using special contact lens to retain her memories to have a better shot at winning the game, which caused the glitch and made their copied consciousnesses self-aware. She is kicked out of the group by Adam, Mira, and Reeve. She sees that the other team is moving on to the final part of the game, and she follows them. Adam, Kai, Mira, and Reeve go to the final level and start battling the other team. Vanessa rejoins the group and, at the same time the other team wins, the Weird Guy tells them he's finished and opens a portal. They make it through. The final scenes of the season are Adam, Kai, Mira, Reeve, and Vanessa having a barbecue at Mira's home, followed by a shot of the snail from the Hollow game in the Hollow Life world.

Voice cast

Adrian Petriw Adrian Roman Petriw (born August 5, 1987) is a Canadian television, film and voice actor. He is best known for his voice role of Tony Stark / Iron Man in the television series '' Iron Man: Armored Adventures'', Commander Gren in ''The Dragon Pri ...

as Adam, who is clever, incredibly strong, and agile, and assumes the role of leader of the group. In Season 2, he is revealed to be

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He is one of the main

protagonists A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

. **Peter Bundic plays Adam in the live-action scenes. *

Ashleigh Ball Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and musician, known for performing with the rock band Hey Ocean!, as well as voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the ''Barbie'' film ...

as Mira, who is good at puzzles and is able to communicate with animals and creatures, breathe underwater, and swim at great speeds. She is one of the main

. She has two dads, Curtis and Paul, in the Hollow, and one brother, Miles, in the same reality. **Lana Jalissa plays Mira in the live-action scenes. * Connor Parnall as Kai, who is smart and nerdy, being a tech whiz, and chose the ability to create and manipulate fire. However, he's impulsive, not very athletic, and often makes jokes that only he finds funny. In Season 2, it's revealed that he's a friend of Mira's brother Miles, extremely rich and was initially only chosen for the team to replace Reeve when he left it. He is one of the main

. **

Harrison Houde Harrison Houde (; born March 26, 1996) is a Canadian actor, producer, director, YouTuber, and musician. He is best known for his first acting role as Darren Walsh in the 2010 American film ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' and for his role as 'Bowie' in ...

plays Kai in the live-action scenes, *

Diana Kaarina Diana Kaarina (born March 17, 1975) is a Canadian voice and stage actress based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Career Kaarina was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in Richmond, British Columbia. She got her start with Theatre Under ...

as Vanessa. Along with being able to fly, she is incredibly manipulative and scheming. It is revealed that she cheated by having digiblock lenses placed in her eyes to keep her memory from being blocked and thus secretly caused the "glitch". She is one of the main

antagonists An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

in Season 1, but later one of the main

in Season 2. **Destiny Millens plays Vanessa in the live-action scenes. * Alex Barima as Reeve, a boy who can move things with his mind. He is shown to be the most malicious of his group. It was revealed in Season 2 that Adam and Reeve used to be friends, but that Reeve joined Vanessa's team after a fight. Later he becomes friends with Adam again. He is one of the main

in Season 1, but later one of the main

in Season 2. Furthermore, it's suggested in Season 2 that Reeve may also be gay. **Abdoul Diallo plays Reeve in the live-action scenes * Jesse Moss as Skeet, who can run at super speed. He is the least malicious of his group and at some point tries to convince his teammates to work together with their competitors after he is made aware of the dangers represented by the glitches. In Season 2, it is revealed that his real name is Bernard and that he has been a friend to Mira since preschool. His character is killed in the fourth episode of Season 2. He is one of the main

in Season 1, but later one of the main

in Season 2. **Chase Dallas Carey plays Skeet in the live-action scenes. *

Kazumi Evans Kazumi Evans (born September 14, 1989) is a Canadian actress. She began her career as a contestant on the CBC's '' Triple Sensation''. As a voice actress, she has voiced Saffi on ''Bob the Builder'', Madeline on '' The Deep'', and Skipper in the ...

as Nisha, one of the new main

in Season 2. She has the ability to use fire just like Kai. *

Sam Vincent James Samuel Vincent (born May 18, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Vincent won the State of Michigan "Mr. Basketball" award in 1981, the first year the award was given. He attended Lansing's Eastern High Sch ...

as Tyler, one of the new main

in Season 2. He has the ability to manipulate the weather. He also plays Jules Voulcan, an evil French scientist. * Khamisa Wilsher as Iris, one of the new main

in Season 2. She has the ability to increase her size for a short time. * Mark Hildreth as The Weird Guy or Weirdy or Gustaf (Real Life), an eccentric and mysterious individual who appears whenever someone says the phrase "help please". Outside the game he is the host. **Hildreth plays The Weird Guy in the live-action scenes. *

Nicole Oliver Nicole Lyn Oliver (born February 22, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Princess Celestia and Cheerilee in '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and Zoe Trent in ''Littlest Pet Shop''. Early life Oliver was born i ...

as Tree/Spider-Woman. *

Ian James Corlett Ian James Corlett (born August 29, 1962) is a Canadian voice actor, animator, and author. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series ''Being Ian'' and ''Yvon of the Yukon''. One of his best-known animation roles was the first En ...

as Benjamin. Along with Benjamini, he is a strongman for a rundown carnival in Season 1 and a security guard for the jazz club in Season 2. *

Michael Daingerfield Michael Daingerfield is a Canadian actor, acting coach and founder of On The Mic Training, a voice acting school in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known for his voice roles of Ace Ventura in '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', playing Gordo ...

as Benjamini. Along with Benjamin, he is a strongman for a rundown carnival in Season 1 and a security guard for the jazz club in Season 2. *

Brian Drummond Brian Drummond (born August 10, 1969) is a Canadian voice actor. He formerly served on the board of directors for the New Westminster-based Urban Academy along with his wife, Laura Drummond, also a voice artist. Usually working in Vancouver, h ...

as Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He is apparently skilled in baking scones and brewing iced tea. In Season 2, he works at the bar. *

as Brynhilda, a Viking woman. *

Kathleen Barr Kathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is best known for voicing Marie Kanker and Kevin in ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' and Trixie Lulamoon and Queen Chrysalis in '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''. She also voiced Henri Richard Maurice Du ...

as The Witches. * Akuma, a Japanese demon monk king who stole the Ishibo. In Season 2 he is the host in a game called "Pick a Portal." * Brian Dobson as Toros/Minotaur #1. * Paul Dobson as Minotaur #2. *

Lee Tockar Lee William Tockar (born 1969) is a Canadian voice actor and visual artist who works for several studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is also a writer of children's literature, a musician, sculptor, illustrator and collected painter ...

as Dave. *

Peter Kelamis Peter Kelamis (born December 11, 1967) is an Australian-Canadian actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He is known for playing Tail Terrier in ''Krypto the Superdog'', Dr. Adam Brody in ''Stargate Universe'', Goku in Ocean's English dubs ...

as Spider-Leader *

Jason Simpson Jason Edwin Simpson (born January 25, 1971) is an American football coach. He is head football coach at the University of Tennessee at Martin, a position he has held since 2006. Simpson has led the UT Martin Skyhawks to two Ohio Valley Confere ...

as Cyclops.

Production

LGBTQ Representation

This short-lived series, ''The Hollow'', featured various LGBTQ+ characters. On May 8, 2020, the show's second season premiered on Netflix. The first episode of that season, titled "Home," features one of the show's protagonists, an

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

girl named Mira, was shown to be adopted by her two fathers named Paul and Curtis and a brother named Miles. The second episode featured a

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

boy named Adam who was revealed to be homosexual, as he said that Mira, a female protagonist, is "not his type." Prior to this, in the trailer for Season 2 the LGBT

pride flag A pride flag is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBT community. ''Pride'' in this case refers to the notion of gay pride. The terms ''LGBT flag'' and ''queer flag'' are often used interchangeably. The rainbow flag is the most ...

was seen in his room, leading some fans to speculate he was gay. (This flag is also seen right at the beginning of the first episode of Season Two). Also, the unfolding of the events in the series makes it very likely that Reeve, a Black boy, is gay and a former love interest of Adam. Some critics stated that while this was somewhat clear in season one, there is little or no "romantic entanglement" for the show's characters in the show's second season, with the show focusing on "difficult and dramatic friendships" instead.

Episodes

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2 (2020)

Reception

Reception to the show was positive. Joyce Slaton of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

describes it as akin to ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'' for tweens, but scary for younger kids, with intense and pulsing music, and calls the series "appealingly weird," saying that parents who appreciate the "dark and puzzling" may enjoy the series. Imaobong Ifum of

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

argued that the show is otherworldly, all-around weird, with "daring demonstrations of bravery, strong will, and teamwork," and said that the show embodies the same "sense of adventure and genuine communion" as ''

Gravity Falls ''Gravity Falls'' is an American mystery comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal) wh ...

''. Dave Trumbore, also of Collider, described the series as underrated, calling it action-packed, akin to ''

The Maze Runner ''The Maze Runner'' is a 2009 young adult dystopian science fiction novel written by American author James Dashner and the first book released in ''The Maze Runner'' series. The novel was published on October 6, 2009, by Delacorte Press, an i ...

'' and argued that the show's second season focuses on "difficult and dramatic friendships" and called it a "cautionary tale about

Big Data Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...

." Rafael Motamayor of ''Bloody Disgusting'' also made the comparison to ''The Maze Runner'', and noted similarities with ''Gravity Falls'', and said that while he found the show's tone "a bit childish," and said it sets up a "mystery that actually pays off without any cliffhanger." Remus Noronha of ''MEAWW'' said the show has a plot twist in the show's second season in the style of 'Devs' or 'Westworld', and was praised by fans for its LGBTQ representation, "including the reveal that Adam is gay."

References

External links