TV Show Review - Clickbait (Limited Series)

Season: Limited Series
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2021
Starring: Zoe Kazan, Betty Gabriel, Adrian Grenier, Phoenix Raei, Cameron Engels, Jaylin Fletcher, Ian Meadows, Elizabeth Alexander, Abraham Lin, Becca Lish, Jessica Collins

Description: When family man, Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier), is abducted in a crime with a sinister online twist, those closest to him race to uncover who is behind it and why.

Review: In “Clickbait”, the perfect-looking family man Nick Brewer is kidnapped, then his dark double life is revealed on YouTube. What could have been a critical dissection of social media, remains inconsistent and muddles.
How well do you really know someone? Do even people who are close to you always keep secrets from you? The new Netflix series “Clickbait” tackles that question after a family man seems to be leading a double life. In the process, social media plays a paradoxical role: it can both reveal and keep someone’s hidden sides veiled.
“Clickbait” pops right into the plot: Nick Brewer, husband to Sophie and father of two sons, is kidnapped, which his family and sister must learn about via Social Media. There, a video uploaded where an anxious looking Nick holds up two signs: “I abuse women” and “At five million views I die”. Wife Sophie and sister Pia don’t know Nick like that at all, but as the video goes viral and the views mount, taking quick action becomes increasingly urgent.
In search for Nick is a good illustration of the tension between the calm and thorough, but slow, police investigation versus the public that rushes to work with home-built tracking apps, geocaching and open-source intelligence, and uses social media to uncover both valuable clues and spread damaging disinformation.
Despite the good concept and multiple surprising twists, “Clickbait” is unfortunately a bit of a disappointment in terms of execution. The supposedly critical dissection of digital media is muddles, inconsistent and without a clear message. It makes “Clickbait” seem like the umpteenth series or film that wants to do ‘something’ with the dystopian aspect of social media, without offering any original insight.
What doesn’t help is that they chose a large cast of characters, most of whom show little depth and are barely elaborated on. You would expect that, with a set-up that shows the story from various perspectives, you would get more insight on certain characters. The curiosity about the culprit in the whodunnit will probably keep the viewers invested, but there won’t be any emotional involvement.
Because of the good concept and the surprising twist the series has, this series still makes it worth watching. It just lacks in depth and consistency.