Tiny Pretty Things is so wild it'll make you do a double take pirouette.
Now, is wild a good thing? In this case, we're not so sure.
The Netflix teen drama, based on Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra's novel, tackles the highly-competitive ballet world by following fictional students at an elite Chicago-based school for budding ballerinas.
Prior to its release, Tiny Pretty Things was described as "Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars." For more context, the series kicked off with newcomer Neveah (played by Kylie Jefferson) joining the Archer School of Ballet, where a star student mysteriously fell from a rooftop.
As fans of ballet content, including Center Stage and Dance Academy, we were immediately sold when the Tiny Pretty Things trailer dropped. Everything from dance numbers to hot hookups to a potential murder was teased, so it was an easy sell.
However, after consuming the show in one weekend, we found ourselves asking, "What the heck did we just watch?"
Yes, Tiny Pretty Things delivered on the drama it promised. Yet, as each episode tried to top the previous one's outrageous moments, the show got increasingly more crazy.
When the students weren't covering up where they were the night rising star Cassie Shore (played by Anna Maiche) faced near death, they were having illicit affairs with adults and/or peers, getting addicted to pain killers and more.
We mean, at one point, the ballerinas tried to take down a predatory benefactor who assaulted a student. We're all for taking down the patriarchy, but maybe don't endanger your life when you could've just reported it to the authorities?
Still, that's just a taste of the drama from Tiny Pretty Things. So, for a break down of all the wild moments on the show, scroll through our ranking below.
At the beginning of season one, Neveah (Jefferson) inserted herself into the Cassie (Maiche) coma drama by sleeping by the victim's hospital bed and trying to piece together what happened. This seems wildly inappropriate as Neveah never knew Cassie.
What was even crazier? Neveah made out with Cassie's dancer boyfriend Nabil (Michael Hsu) in front of Cassie's comatose body. Neveah and Nabil's connection was essentially never mentioned again as both dancers moved onto their pas de deux partners.
Let's talk about Officer Cruz (played by Jess Salgueiro). Isabel Cruz, a former soldier turned beat cop, was first on the scene after Cassie's fall. After a traumatic loss of her own, Officer Cruz was determined to sniff out the truth surrounding the incident at the Archer School.
Yet, Officer Cruz wasn't a detective. So, how on earth was she allowed to interrogate minors without a parent or guardian present? Didn't she have other job responsibilities than just following around a group of teens?
Eating disorders in ballet are often addressed in dance-centric films and TV shows. While it's certainly an important issue to highlight, Oren (played by Barton Cowperthwaite)'s struggle with bulimia was a surface level plot point.
Yes, they documented Oren binging and purging but they never got to the deeper root of his issues. Rather than unpacking the complexities of Oren's situation, his eating disorder was given the TV treatment.
We're talking a few moments of light-headiness, excessive exercise, etc. This could've been a great opportunity to highlight mental health struggles in the ballet community. But, alas, it wasn't.
After failing to land any prominent parts, June Park (played by Daniela Norman) tried to convince mom Maricel (Alexandra Bokyun Chun) to let her stay at the pricey Archer School of Ballet. Unfortunately for June, her mother felt it was time her daughter focused on a pragmatic career path.
Refusing to give up on her dream, June, with the help of the school's doctor and Bette (Casimere Jollette)'s high power attorney dad, filed for emancipation. Shockingly, we didn't find ourselves rooting for June.
Rather, we felt that her position was wildly immature. Yes, you have a dream, but if your self-made mother is done paying for this costly ambition, that's her decision.
Fast forward to the end of the season, where June rekindled her relationship with her mom and it's teased that scandalous choreographer Ramon Costa (played by Bayardo De Murguia) may be her father.
Now, we're not thumbing our nose at Neveah's backstory.
For those who missed it, Neveah's distrust of the police stemmed from her mother murdering her abusive boyfriend, which resulted in cops shooting and paralyzing Neveah's brother, who was present during the incident. However, by the time we reached this plot point we were becoming overwhelmed with everything that was going on.
So, even though actress Karen Robinson gave a great performance as Neveah's mother, we just weren't that invested in this storyline.
Stop romanticizing relationships between students and teachers. We felt this way when Pretty Little Liars was on the air and we feel this way now.
In Tiny Pretty Things, there were several problematic relationships that surfaced. Firstly, there was a reveal that victim Cassie was having an affair with adult choreographer Ramon prior to his arrival at the Archer School.
Later in the season, Bette attempted to seduce Ramon, who eventually shot her down. Although, he did kiss her back at one point…Ugh.
And don't get us started on Monique DuBois (played by Lauren Holly), director of the Archer School of Ballet, who is secretly sleeping with student Caleb (played by Damon J. Gillespie). Although Caleb's age is never specified, it's not ok for the director of the school to be sleeping with a student. No ifs, ands, or buts.
In order to keep a prominent part in the Ripper ballet, injured Bette began popping pain killers like they were candy. Not only did Bette hit up her mother for some drugs, but she also conned handyman Matteo (Alex Eling) into helping her score some pills.
Her problem became so severe that she crashed her dad's convertible, which sent June flying from the car. One: How did June sustain no major injuries? Two: How did Bette's mother not send her to rehab after this?
Following her emancipation file, June's mother cut her off. In order to make an income, June began working with a few peers at a local beach club.
At this job, June mingled with several prominent businessmen, one being the predatory Travis Quinn (Luke Humphrey). During one encounter in a swimming pool, Travis groped the underaged June. Although June was able to escape, one of her peers later found herself in a similar position.
Later on, June, with the help of Bette and Neveah, attempted a sting operation to take down Travis. The girls eventually learned that Madame DuBois was selling wealthy men access to the female students via the jobs at the beach club.
Shining star Cassie Shore found herself in a coma for most of the series after a hooded attacker pushed her off the roof. Of course, this led to a series of "Who done it?" questions. Was it Shane (Brennan Clost), who Cassie was blackmailing over his affair with Bette's boyfriend Oren? Was it underdog June, who gave Cassie roofies to mess with an upcoming audition? Was it boyfriend Nabil, who suspected Cassie of having an affair? Was it Bette, who always came in second place to Cassie?
In actuality, it was Delia (Tory Trowbridge), Bette's older sister, who pushed Cassie. The oldest Whitlaw shoved Cassie out of jealousy as the former would've likely dethroned Delia as ballet's It-girl upon graduation. Oh, and Cassie had an affair with Delia's choreographer boyfriend Ramon Costa.
Yet, Bette agreed to take the fall for Delia, which made no sense.
Another brutal crime to solve.
And, once more, the Tiny Pretty Things dancers are the suspects. After a successful performance of Ripper—which exposed Madame DuBois—and Cassie's return to life, the Netflix drama had to give us another shocking moment to mull over.
In the finale, hot-tempered choreographer Ramon was found seemingly stabbed to death in a dance studio. His body was surrounded by Neveah, Bette and June.
Did anyone else get big Degrassi energy from this show? Be sure to let us know.
Tiny Pretty Things is streaming now on Netflix.