Juliette wakes up and gets ready for school. She muses that she’s the only one of her classmates who doesn’t know who she is and has to pretend. Her parents tell her it’s been three weeks since her birthday. It’s time. But Juliette brushes them off. Juliette’s friend Ben picks her up and drives her to school. Ben has been Juliette’s best friend since they were little kids. They dated once, until they figured out they were both gay. Juliette gets queasy at school. She passes it off as a migraine and takes a red pill. Later, she struggles to talk to her crush, Calliope. She runs into her outside of school, and drops some of her red pills. They finally make introductions, and Juliette invites Cal to a party that night. In class, Juliette has a hard time keeping it together. She’s been getting more and more sensitive lately, and the world becomes louder. But when Cal walks into class, she feels better. Later, Juliette finds a bracelet on the floor next to her locker. She tries to pick it up, but it burns her and causes her fangs to come out briefly. It’s pure silver. At home, Juliette hides her burn from her mom, as well as the fact she’s started having night terrors. But her parents find the pills in Juliette’s bag–blood pills. They tell her she can’t keep taking them; her body is changing. She needs to choose someone. Juliette says it’s wrong. Her mom tells her that one day she may kill recklessly if she doesn’t choose one person now. Juliette’s sister Elinor helps her get ready for the party and talks about her own first kill. She tells her she knows her throat is on fire, that she’s started crying blood. If she puts off her kill, things are going to get worse. An image of Cal flashes across Juliette’s mind. At the party, Juliette kisses Cal with some encouragement from Ben. As they kiss, Juliette’s fangs come out and sink into Cal’s neck. The scene flashes back to Calliope. She wants to prove to her family what she’s capable of. She doesn’t like school much and doesn’t make friends because she knows she’ll just move again in a couple of months. Cal’s parents are hunters. When they began hunting, she started having nightmares of monsters. She later learned from a Guild Guardian named JoJo that the worst monsters look human. The Guild wards off monsters and evil spirits. They also give Cal’s family orders. One night, Cal goes out hunting with her brothers, Theo and Apollo. The Guild sent them to kill ghouls at a cemetery. It’s been 25 years since the Guild cleaned up Savannah from monsters. Now they’re back. Cal wants to be a great hunter one day, but she missed her first shot against a monster last year. For now, her role is lookout. The ghouls come out. The brothers each get a kill, but Theo drops his earpiece and doesn’t hear Cal warn him about another ghoul. She goes to fight the ghoul, but it turns out to be a vampire with a deadly grip. Theo and Apollo save her from its grasp. Back at home, Cal’s friend and ex-girlfriend calls her and asks if there’s anyone new in her life. She thinks of Juliette, and tells her friend there may have been a moment between them. Her friend says she got her first kill. She shows her an arrow tattoo on her arm. After the conversation, Cal practices fighting. She has Juliette on her mind. “Don’t you worry, Juliette,” she says. “I won’t underestimate you.” Cal knew Juliette was a “daywalker” the moment Juliette bumped into her and dropped some of her blood pills. To be sure, Cal dropped her bracelet next to Juliette’s locker on purpose, and she went to the party to scope her out. At the party, when Juliette bites Cal, Cal sticks a stake through Juliette’s chest.
The Episode Review
A cinematic dream plunges us into First Kill, a paranormal YA romance based on Victoria Schwab’s short story of the same name. The new Netflix show stumbles through revealing the backstories of its protagonists, vampire Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) and hunter-in-training Calliope (Imani Lewis). Narration from the teenagers overlays much of the story, leading us into a few too many flashbacks. But once the narrative finds its footing, it reveals Juliette and Cal as compelling characters with real problems, despite their supernatural circumstances. The show’s allegories to coming of age and the confusing rush of first love may be blatant, but will still resonate along with an enticing forbidden love story. That cliffhanger was pretty spectacular. Will the teenagers remain enemies? Or will they soon realize they’re meant for each other?
