Netflix's Adolescence is a stunning, gut-wrenching achievement

Netflix doesn't always get it right with their original programming - no streaming service does - but when they do, wow. Their most recent hit series is the latest example of how often the streamer gets it right.

Adolescence just debuted this past week on Netflix and immediately shot to the number one ranking among their shows. The four-part limited series is a critical hit, earning a rare 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That's not quite as impressive as it sounds, as you'll see.

As we've explained a few times before, that 100 score doesn't mean that every critic gave it the maximum possible rating on a scale of 0-100. It does mean that 100 percent of the critics surveyed recommend the show. In this case, almost every critic did give it their top rating. And this series deserves every bit of praise it's received

Adolescence is a mystery with far deeper meaning

The story told in Adolescence is deceptively simple. It begins with the police arresting 13-year-old Jamie Miller for the murder of his classmate. Each of the four episodes follows a critical stage of the story. After the arrest (and the reveal of the killer) is shown in Episode 1, Episode 2 details the search for the motive.

The third episode - my favorite - shows a battle of wills between Jamie and the psychologist who must determine if he's fit to stand trial. The final episode details the aftermath of the crime on Jamie's family.

Most mysteries are who-done-its. Think of the classic Agatha Christie stories or the Sherlock Holmes casebook. There are dozens of great examples of the classic mystery on Netflix. I highly recommend To Catch A Killer, but there are dozens of others, like Reptile or, you know, Enola Holmes. Clearly, that's not what they're doing here.

The rarer form is the why-done-it. Well, rarer in fiction. Netflix still has dozens of examples of these. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile - a drama based on the case of Ted Bundy - comes to mind as one of the best on the streamer. By the way, Zach Efron is amazingly good as the charismatic killer in that film.

But he's not as good as the lead in Adolescence. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this series - and man, is there ever some gritty - I have to mention how astonishingly good Owen Cooper is as the 13-year-old Jamie Miller. His performance recalls how terrific Saoirse Ronan was in her earliest films. And even she had four credits before appearing in Atonement. This is Cooper's debut performance.

All of the actors are terrific. Stephen Graham, who also stars in the excellent series Boiling Point, not only co-stars as Jamie's father but scripted the show with Jack Thorne. Other standouts include Ashley Walters as the lead detective on the case, and Erin Doherty as the psychologist assigned to the case.

The direction is brilliant. Each of the four episodes is filmed in one continuous shot. That wasn't exactly easy to pull off, as director Phillip Baranti recalled. Yes, each hour-long episode really was filmed in one take. They rehearsed for weeks, then filmed twice a day for five days, so there were 10 takes in all for each episode to ensure they captured the best performances. I mean, check out the trailer:

So why not film it like - I don't know, a normal human would? According to Baranti, “What the one-shot does is make you sit up, and you can’t take your eyes off it because if you do blink for a second, you miss something. It draws the audience in.” Yes, it does. The story is compelling enough, but the immediacy of the way it's told keeps you riveted to the screen.

One more note about the episodes: each neatly functions as a stand-alone story. Yes, they flow nearly seamlessly from one to the next, but each has a distinct structure. The first is a police procedural, following - literally - the arrest of Jamie and the search for further evidence. The second stays with the investigation but delves into the "why-done-it" as the detectives try to establish his motive.

The third is a cat-and-mouse game between Jamie and the clinical psychologist. She isn't interested in his motive or even if he's truly guilty of the crime. She only wants to know if he's competent to stand trial - but she learns much more than that. The final episode is a heartfelt family drama, as the Millers deal with the fallout of Jamie's actions. Each makes for great viewing - together, they create a stunning story about alienation, rage, and grief - all the emotions that make for light viewing.

As for the motive and the deeper meaning of the series, Graham wanted to raise a serious and timely topic. Speaking about the spate of school-age killings, he told The Independent, “Who is to blame? Who is accountable?”, and the answer is not straightforward. “Maybe we're all accountable family, school, society, community, environment.”

Adolescence is by no means some dry academic exercise. It's profoundly thought-provoking, and certainly an intense viewing experience. I'll definitely watch it again, as I want to catch every nuance of the series. But - whew - it's going to be a while before I do.

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