Just in time for the news that it’s just been acquired to air on Fiver in the UK comes the season finale of 10 Things I Hate About You. As mentioned in previous reviews, this isn’t really much like the movie, with just a few plot elements and characters the same, but it’s not bad in and of itself. Nothing too remarkable, but still reasonably funny with some interesting quirks and characters.
However, things have perked up in the last three episodes, making it a much more appealing show altogether.
On the whole, the show has trod a reasonably well-worn sitcom path over the season. Everyone knows they’re in a comedy and are doing ‘comedy acting’; the humour’s not been too clever; and there’s not been much that could be construed as deep.
However, the last three episodes have been really rather good, bringing several storylines to a head. Cameron/Bianca, while not following the movie relationship at all, has been fun and actually bit the bullet on having her tell him she’s not interested in him; Kat/Patrick, again steering clear of the far superior movie relationship, did at least manage to become more than him glowering and talking in a deep voice.
It also developed a fun line in knowingness, with characters coming up with things like “You know you’re not living in a teen movie, don’t you?” and the penultimate episode doing the traditional teen party episode, complete with Risky Business homage and questions about how true teen parties are in the movies (“Wow, there really is a guy who doesn’t realise the water melon has been spiked.”).
The finale was a little disappointing in that it failed to follow through on some of the deeper emotions probed in previous episodes, but did produce some interesting ‘cliffhangers’ that pushed the characters on a bit. While it’s still not the movie in any way shape or form, it has at least found its feet and now has a fair idea of what to do with itself. If only it were brave enough to be just a little bit smarter and a little bit more edgy.
