Hi readers,
As I've still not finished the next book I want to review, I thought I'd write about something different, but still give it a review. For the last few months, I've been addicted and having nostalgic moments to The Tribe TV series. As a teenager I watched this as it was shown on Channel five on Saturday/Sunday mornings. Though for some reason I remember seeing the first few episodes in a Saturday evening time slot. I didn't take to it, however, it started to grow on me and I become addicted to the series 3,4 and 5.
The Tribe is about the aftermath of a virus which has wiped out all the adults, leaving everyone under 18/19 still alive. They now have to survive and rebuild the world. It's set in a near-future styled New Zealand city, though it looks very late nineteens (the time it was made and filmed) The focus was on one Tribe in particular; The Mall Rats. The stories of individual characters were told as well as showing how the youngsters were trying to work together to improve many things. Though there were subplots that look at the other Tribes/characters the Mall Rats were conflicting against or working with.
In the first series, the characters start off in a world similar to that of a post-apocalyptic one. There is no law, rules, money, protection, guides, power, mains water or fresh food etc. In some aspects it is what most teenagers wish for! However, to go alongside these there is also danger, fear, sadness, loss, confusion and anarchy. Suddenly, having total freedom goes to the young peoples' heads -as it would do- and some go crazy with power lust. This is actually a theme throughout the series. Because of this and to do with the loss of their families and friends, the young people start to band together in tribes. Within the first few episodes, the Mall Rats come together as a tribe. They learn to be a family and overcome the difficulties; clean water, food, power, morality, for their new world.
They also have to deal with typical teenage themes throughout all the series like friendships, betrayal, ambitions, love, loyalty, education, trust, dealing with fears, growing up, responsibilities, addiction, babies and finding their own ways. If that wasn't enough to deal with, they also have a third lot of things to overcome! These are trying to make and sustain peace, bring back laws and rules, overcome other tribe leaders who are seeking full control of the city, bring back education and hospitals and have things sort of the way they were before the virus.
Across the other series, the characters do get chances to sort these issues and a lot more out. Progress is made on a lot of things and it can seen that the young people know they must start again from scratch to fix things. However, the city doesn't much change even though other tribes have tried to improve things, but when they leave things seem to go backwards again. Also Mall Rats come and go -especially in series 3 and 4. Thankfully the main ones do stay or else you know they will soon reappear.
The main audience was teenagers, but it also attracted children and young adults. The Tribe had five full seasons before it was cancelled. I keep reading that a movie is due out this year, which rounds things off. Hopefully, it's true as I'd just love to see that!
The next thing, I wanted to look at was the acting and the actual sets, but I'm aware of how much I've already writing, so I'm just going to touch on a few things. The acting does seem bad and clumsy at times. Being younger it didn't distracted me as much as it does now -maybe that's also because I have a film critic boyfriend- Of course I realize that they are all young people, most acting for the first time and that the Tribe probably had a low budget. There are one or two characters during the first and second series that really bug me, but later on you get to see that their acting has improved somewhat.
There are also some plot lines and ends that are a bit silly or else don't make much sense. I've noticed that if a character goes 'missing' and the others don't look or seem to be looking for them that they aren't going to come back. Whilst if an effort is put in to find them, then you know that they'll be appearing soon. Also characters spend a lot of time 'looking' for each other. Okay, I get that there is no means of communication now and there is a lot of danger around, but it sometimes seems that these characters have nothing better to do then play hide and seek! Some of the teenage issues do begin to grate on you, but a number which are looked at, such as pregnancy, babies, bulimic and depressing are handled really good.
Being low budget meant that some of the cut scene which show parts of the set are constantly reused or rehashed. There's nothing much wrong with this because normally its only on screen for a few moments and just used to show a change in place and/or time. What bugs me though is when they use the older images for these cuts and you wonder why the editor couldn't get it right. Like for example; there is a graffiti wall in the Mall Rats home which during some cut scenes has different graffiti on it which dates back from different times. That bugged me for awhile.
Lastly, the soundtrack. The same opening is used for all the episodes and that song 'Keeping The Dream Alive' gets stuck in you head, but it's not bad. Then there are two different end songs, both of which are good. (though you should beware that they reveal main plot points in the end credits) In series 1-3 the soundtracks mostly stay the same and are very limited. In the next ones, a new soundtrack was added and this gives a fresher tone to things and also there is a lot more variation. One thing I hate though is the low, defeated trumpet/trombone noise that gets played when a humorous or comedy relief moment happens. It's not need at all and sometimes you have to wonder why they put it in at the point because it doesn't make sense.
Overall, if you've not seen The Tribe or you've done when you were younger, I'd say watch it. The pros of it do out way the cons and yes, not everyone is going to like it, but the plots and the themes it deals with are good and you can relate to them. Most of the actor and characters are good to watch and there are some cute ones. Though sometimes the costumes and make up choices leave you puzzled or else laughing your head off.
