Get Even review: American Vandal meets Pretty Little Liars

Get Even is a British blend of American Vandal and Pretty Little Liars

If you were bummed that Netflix canceled American Vandal, and you liked the intrigue, fashion, and friendships from Pretty Little Liars, check out this Get Even on Netflix.

Get Even isn’t an American teen mockumentary drama like American Vandal, nor is it about a group of girls being harassed by a mystery texter who knows their secrets like Pretty Little Liars.

However, it does involve a group of girls, lots of texts, secrets and exposing them. It’s also a whodunnit at heart.

Get Even gets its name from the saying, “Don’t get mad, get even.” That’s what Kitty (Kim Adis), Margot (Bethany Antonia), Olivia (Jessica Alexander) and Bree (Mia McKenna-Bruce) do. They form a secret group that calls themselves “D.G.M.”

Their mission is to expose the bullies at their exclusive school, Bannerman, and get even with them in a very public, permanent way for all the mean things they’ve done to others.

What makes their group and their mission even more effective is that no one suspects them. For one, because they’re girls. For another, they don’t run in the same social circles and aren’t friends outside of D.G.M.

In fact, they’re about as polar opposite as you can get. Kitty is the athletic scholar, Margot is the computer geek, Olivia is the pretty, popular girl, and Bree is the misfit rebel. They use those labels to identify each other on the burner phones they have for D.G.M. missions.

One thing Get Even isn’t lacking is twists, which is pretty impressive for a show with 30-minute episodes. They cram a lot into a tight space but not in an overwhelming way. It all flows naturally and seamlessly, but there’s always some twist you don’t see coming.

An example is when one of D.G.M.’s targets, Ronny Kent (Joe Flynn) winds up dead after Bree breaks into his house to download his hard drive while Olivia preoccupies him. He’s so vile, however, that Olivia can only stand him so long before she tells Kitty she’s had to bail. Margot warns Bree that Ronny may be heading home soon, but as she’s doing so, Bree hears someone else enter.

Whoever it is, it’s not Ronny or his parents, but she doesn’t stick around to find out who it is. All Bree sees is the person’s shadow before she jumps out of the window. When Ronny ends up dead later that evening, the girls can’t help but wonder if the person belonging to the mystery shadow was his killer.

I knew someone was going to die, but I didn’t think it was going to be Ronny. Up until that point, I thought Get Even was going to take more of a13 Reasons Why turn, but that’s not where the storyline went at all.

Later, Mika dies, too. Is it the same person who murdered Ronny?

I won’t divulge any more spoilers, but one thing I can say in this Get Even review is to give it a chance. I wasn’t wowed by the first episode and almost ditched the series. I didn’t find the coach all that heinous or how they got even with him all that impressive in that first episode.

Once I got to the second episode, I was invested and the binge was on.

Also, it seems like Get Even season 2 could go in more of a Pretty Little Liars direction.

It does seem like someone is on to D.G.M. but who and why? That’s why there has to be a second season. We need answers!