Netflix released a new romantic comedy series just in time for the holiday season on Nov. 10. “Dash & Lily” is the latest original series on the streaming giant Netflix.
The series is an adaptation of the book “Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares” written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
The series follows two single teens in New York City during the Christmas season. Both have had their share of love troubles in the past, but they are ready to take another shot at love. One day while wandering around the aisles of a bookstore, Dash comes upon a mysterious red notebook. The notebook is filled with numerous dares. Turns out that Lily left the notebook there in hopes of finding the perfect guy for her.
Dash gladly accepts the challenge and the two start a heated dare war. After communicating through the notebook for a few weeks, the two start to develop serious feelings for one another and start to wonder if there is something more between them. As Christmas grows closer, the two-start debating if they should finally meet up and see if their feelings for one another are real.
The season consists of eight half-hour episodes. The show stars Austin Abrams, Midori Francis, Keana Marie, Troy Iwata, and Dante Brown. The writing in this show was very impressive.
They did a great job at making the dialogue between the teens to be very realistic. It actually feels like teens talking, instead of just reading lines that adults wrote for them.
The season’s storyline was also really interesting and original. The dare war between the two was very enjoyable.
It was also nice to see Dash and Lily get to know each other through writing to each other in the notebook. This made the relationship between the two stronger and feel genuine. The series has characters who are upper and middle class, and it did a good job at showing the struggles the two face, especially during the holidays.
The acting in the show was also very well done. Abrams gave a great performance as Dash and is perfect at playing that holiday Grinch who secretly has a soft side.
Francis gave a good performance as the joyful and outgoing Lily, but there were points in the season where her performance was a little too much and needed to be toned down a bit.
The ultimate highlight this season was for sure the set design. The show was shot in NYC and along with it came the incredible scenery.
The fact that the season takes place during the holiday season only compliments the scenery. There are some truly beautiful holiday shots in this show.
“Dash and Lily” is a great show to binge this holiday break. The show feels like a John Hughes film meets the Christmas classic “Love Actually.”
It’s a fun time for anyone looking for a show with holiday cheer, laughs, and a lot of heart.