Charlie (William Lipton) is a boy with a dream. He’s just graduated from high school and is supposed to head to college in the fall…except he fully believes that his band can make it to the big time. Made up of his classmates, Topher (Jeremy Yun), Neil (Axel Ellis), and Wyatt (Jesse Golliher), The Runarounds don’t start off called that but, with the addition of the wickedly talented drummer Bez (Zendé Murdock), the band decides to go all-in for one summer to see if they can achieve the impossible and score a record deal.
Of course, there are a few obstacles to this. The most obvious being: It’s almost impossible to break through and get people to listen. They also all have various issues at home—absent or barely functioning parents, family secrets, and their college futures looming. Oh, and they need more original songs. Enter Sophia (Lilah Pate), a quiet but brilliant classmate who Charlie has been crushing on for a hot minute. Her lyrics are beautiful and raw, and when she and Charlie team up, sparks fly.
The Runarounds is a music-fueled coming-of-age drama that follows the band as they build their following and figure out who they want to be. Through it all, there is heartbreak and romance, petty fights and crash-outs, and a huge amount of really fire songs. The band members are played by real-life musicians, and together they create magic. Their covers are intense crowd-pleasers, while their original tracks are destined to be at the top of your fall playlists. If you spent last summer obsessing over August Moon, then The Runarounds are coming for your heart.
From the creative minds of Outer Banks, The Runarounds brings more teenage drama wrapped up in the intoxicating rush of infinite possibilities when you have your whole life in front of you. Oh, and for those of you who watched OBX and always wondered, where are the parents? It seems the creators listened. The adults are here in force—and they add layers to the storytelling to give the main plot decent momentum. In particular, Brooklyn Decker as Charlie’s mom, and Mark Wystrach as Catesby, who kinda becomes the band’s mentor. They add an extra level of drive that fuels the story’s core.
The series features a rather romanticized version of the music industry and how a record deal will solve everything (as an industry vet, I can’t help but giggle), but it helps to give the band an underdog vibe to cheer for. And something I really enjoyed about this series is it takes time to really indulge in some amusing B-plots. I’ve missed them ever since the 22-episode season glory days were taken from us. The Runarounds may only have 8 episodes but the fact it makes space for these fun, non-plot-development moments allows us to get to know the characters better. It also injects the whimsy back into the teen drama genre (not everything has to be so serious, y’all).
In fact, this show really proves that it’s the journey that forms the memories that stay with you. The Runarounds captures that messy, capricious feeling where the highs are limitless and the lows feel world-ending. And how one summer can change it all. And that’s what makes it feel all the more heartwrenching, doesn’t it?
Rating: B+
Level of Enthusiasm: 95%
