Netflix recently released a new drama called “Grand Army” directed by Katie Cappiello. It is an extraordinary drama that showcases the high school experience of Grand Army High in Brooklyn, New York. This was a phenomenal show and never failed to have my attention. The actors are so exceptional that they make .

This show follows around five stories that are all pretty much intertwined with each other. First there is Joey Del Marco (Odessa A’zion). She seems to have a great life except for her parents who are going through a divorce. Eventually, her friends betray her and it changes her entire character and spins her world around. 

Then there is Jayson Jackson (Maliq Johnson), a musician along with his best friend, Owen,. Later on in the show, they do something that gets them in trouble and his best friend gets expelled while he only gets a suspension, this essentially ruins his best friend’s future and Jackson has to learn to deal with the growing guilt of his situation.

My personal favorite character Dom, or Dominique Pierre (Odley Jean), is a first generation American having to work to provide for her struggling family. She is constantly working hard and always being helpful, cleaning the house, watching kids and making money to support her family. However, her story is about her trying to choose between herself and her family. 

Next there is Sid, or Siddhartha Pakam (Amir Bageria), another first generation American trying to figure out his sexuality throughout the series. He is a varsity swimmer and seems to have a lot of internalized homophobia. Unfortunately for him, he is outed by someone else and his very unaccepting parents find out. His journey is really interesting and shows all of his conflicting emotions about who he wants to be and who he is. This is something lots of other people can probably relate to.

Finally, there is the most dreadful character Leila Kwan (Amalia Yoo). She was adopted from China by two nonreligious Jewish parents. At first she is not such a horrible character, she preaches things like girl power, diversity and not judging others, but she starts to lose herself. She becomes more hateful and boy crazy in an extreme way and it pretty much ruins all the relationships she had before.

This show is so rewarding to watch because even though it might be a more dramatized version of people’s lives it is undeniably relatable. “Grand Army” deals with issues like, betrayal, family problems, sexuality, trying to get into college and many other topics. These topics also might be reasons why some people should not watch this show.

While some of the topics get pretty heavy, it also has a good mixture of comedy and feel-good moments. These make the mood a little bit lighter in times of darkness. Sometimes comedy is a way teenagers cope or deal with their hardships, so yet again another thing that’s easy to relate to.

Grand Army  is about the different characters’ stories. These stories show that no one really knows what is going on in each other’s life. Everybody has their own drama going on at home then you add going to high school and the drama that comes with that into the mix. This drama presents the audience with each of the student’s stories and how they deal with the drama going on in their life.

This show is a dense show at some points so it might not be a great show for certain people to watch. Although, in my opinion it was exceptional. It has a great plot that never seems to be lost even though there is a lot going on at times. Also there is a lot of character development that is easily recognizable. Overall, the series shows Cappiello’s outstanding directing skills and the cast’s spectacular acting abilities.