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Netflix's latest original isn't easy to describe. It's mostly a comedy, except when it isn't. It stars a bunch of unknowns, but they're compelling from the outset. It's full of teen drama, like 13 Reasons Why or Everything Sucks!, but it's also about gang violence, sexuality, and a treasure hunt.

That's a lot to reconcile, but On My Blockhas at its core a group of characters you might just fall in love with. Here are four kids of color, growing up in a rough neighborhood, and not one can be accused of being a stereotype or lacking dimension. The layers of storytelling add up to a comprehensive — if somewhat chaotic — big picture, and a show well worth binging.

SEE ALSO:'Everything Sucks!' brilliantly tackles topics that '90s shows never could"It’s kind of like the weather, you know? You can’t control where you’re gonna grow up or what’s gonna happen."

On My Blocktakes place in Freeridge, an invented L.A. neighborhood ruled by two gangs: The Santos and the Prophets. Cesar (Diego Tinoco) is a legacy Santo who gets roped into duty during the summer between eighth grade and high school (that the characters are roughly 14 years old is the most trying premise; the main cast members are all at least 20). This immediately gets between him and his best friends: Ruby (Jason Genao), Monse (Sierra Capri), and Jamal (Brett Gray).

Because there is at least one female in this mostly heterosexual friend group and this isa show about teens — and we're only human — Monse and Cesar start hooking up in episode 1, and their on-and-off coupling drives much of the season. In episode 2, we meet Olivia (Ronni Hawk), the family friend staying with Ruby's family upon whom he develops an instant crush.

TEENS! OF! COLOR!Credit: John O Flexor/Netflix

Those are the conflicts and emotions that dominate On My Block, where tensions in the neighborhood mostly take a back seat to the everyday realities of adolescence. When we finally spend some time with Cesar's formidable older brother, he's trapped with the kids during a lockdown that they get through by lighting religious candles and playing "Smash, Marry, Kill." Even though they're terrified, they can't put life on hold. As a result, moments of real gravity — like Cesar being handed a gun — feel dissonant and harder to process, but they fit into the big picture if you zoom out of the core clique.

"If you’ve grown up in an inner city or an underprivileged neighborhood, you know the blocks you don’t walk down, the neighborhoods you don’t go to without friends," Gray said at a Netflix roundtable in February. "I feel like it’s so normal for me to be on a show like this where it’s comedy intermittent with violence and drama and gangs and stuff like that, because that’s life."

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And yeah, this isabout diversity. On My Blockdoesn't lose cultural context for a second, even with the casual dynamic between the friends. A few interspersed lines of Spanish don't get subtitles so they force you to consider context. There's barely a white face in the entire series (if it weren't for a Halloween trek to Brentwood, there'd be none) and it was just as diverse behind the scenes.

"How awesome to do a show with all people who look like you, all people who are the same age as you?" Gray said. "Sometimes you get on a set with people that you don’t really know, and there are these walls that you have to fight against before you can even act."

"It gives you this freedom to express a point of view authentically," Tinoco added. "You’re not scared, you're not embarrassed of that point of view and you really justify your character. You really create art from this life that you’re representing."

when u try and look hood but just wonder if ur fly is downCredit: John O Flexor/Netflix

Tinoco has the toughest load of the main cast, having to leapfrog between the lightness of the friend group and the gravity of Cesar's seemingly inevitable career path. He doesn't always land the shift in tone, but if he falls short it feels true to character; it's perfectly believable that a ninth grader might struggle to look hard as a gang member when he'd rather be planning a birthday party with his friends.

Gray's performance as Jamal is over the top by every definition, but of the scene-stealing variety. He gets dozens of one-liners, but none of them lazy or conventional (for example: "I feel like you should be in an alleyway hosting a tea party for stray cats"). His rapidly escalating hysteria makes any mundane side story kind of delightful, whether he's sharing the scene with Ruby's abuelita, the mysterious thug Chivo, or a surprising number of garden gnomes, all whilein search of a legendary fortune supposedly hidden in Freeridge. He sells every second.

It's Gatorade.Credit: John O Flexor/Netflix

One thing the show does remarkably well is the relationship between Monse and Olivia. As it becomes clear that Olivia is interested in Cesar, the girls are never pitted against one another, nor does either blame the other for her feelings or actions (it's almost tooideal). Theirs is a friendship governed by kindness and consideration that most of us will be lucky to develop as adults.

In all likelihood, On My Blockwill be swallowed up by the now-regular deluge of Netflix content, especially as the platform's shows about teens multiply week-to-week. But the kids of Freeridge deserve the few hours it'll take you to fall for their slice of teen life. On My Blockis more about the journey than the destination, and when it comes to travel companions, it's not too shabby.

On My Blockis now streaming on Netflix.

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TopicsNetflix

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