You guys! I binge-watched a show! And to me, that means I finished it in a week, which is pretty darn good if you ask me! I watched the newest Netflix hit, The Society, and I totally understand why it’s catching.
The show focuses on a very large group of high school students who are on their way to a field trip when a storm turns them around back towards their homes in West Ham, Connecticut. Although it only looks like their hometown, because their parents are nowhere to be found. After realizing that they may be in some sort of alternate universe, they band together to form some semblance of normalcy, or in this case a socialist society. After Allie’s older sister gets murdered, she takes over as the town’s leader, sort of acting as a dictator, but not in a malicious way. They have a guard and assigned jobs and shared housing. Allie’s main concern, after realizing they aren’t going “home” anytime soon, is how to survive the winter.
In the midst of all that are some pretty restless and resentful rich kids who just want their stuff back, oh yeah, and Allie’s diagnosed psychopathic cousin, Campbell who decide they want to run the town instead. The 10-episode run ends with Campbell and his laggies arresting Allie and her right-hand man/boyfriend, Will. A group of teens, including my personal favorite character, Grizz, just made it back from an expedition that found farmland and animals for food to sustain them through the winter. And just when that cliff-hanger shows itself, we learn that all the parents are still alive in the real West Ham with yellow ribbons and a plaque sporting the names of the “missing” teens.
Other characters trajectories are minor, and there are so many cast members, it’s sort of hard to keep track. They do tackle issues such as an abusive relationship, teen pregnancy, and addiction, along with something that is still a struggle for some today, a closeted jock coming to terms with himself.
With all that story line in such few episodes, there are plenty of theories going around about The Society. The most fascinating I’ve seen skittering across the internet involves the fable of the Pied Piper and the town of Hamlin. In this fable, the Pied Piper rids the town of rats, but is not paid for his services. In retaliation, the Pied Piper returns to lure the kids out of the town, never to return. We learn in the show that before the kids of West Ham left for their trip, some of the parents are arguing with a man named Pfiffer about not paying him for ridding their town of a mysterious smell. In German, the name Pfiffer stands for piper. We also learn that Pfiffer was one of the bus drivers. Creepy. So the theory is that Pfiffer took the kids as revenge on the parents. So does that mean the kids are dead?
A few other strong theories include an alternate universe or that they are all dead and in purgatory. Their time in “New Ham” and how they behave will determine whether they go to Heaven or Hell. There are plenty of clues to support each of these theories, but my favorite has to go to the Pied Piper. Whatever the outcome, we better be getting a second season!