Freeridge is a spinoff of the hit sitcom On My Block but with a completely different character. The plot revolves around four teens who must break a curse after discovering an unknown old box that brings them disaster. Freeridge takes place in September, following the conclusion of Season 4 of On My Block.
Freeridge is a coming-of-age drama that follows sisters Gloria and Ines and their friends Cameron and Demi when they unleash a curse that brings dark sorrow into their lives.
Many people tuned in to watch the 2023 title. Some people liked every minute of the show, whereas others were happier with its predecessor. Unfortunately, it appears that the latter perspective for the show became the majority, as the series simply couldn’t find a home amongst most fans, resulting in Freeridge’s cancellation, which was both anticipated and heartbreaking.
Why Was Freeridge Cancelled?
From the start, Freeridge’s situation didn’t seem promising. It was difficult to imagine how the show could survive only on metrics, and eventually, the metrics were the show’s death blow. The show was canceled on April 12th, 2023, despite the fact that it offered no further explanation for its cancellation.
Freeridge’s premiere was one of the poorest Netflix Original series premieres in the past few years, with only 8.27 million hours streamed in its first week. Freeridge failed to make the top ten for week two and also failed to accumulate over 10.2 million hours, which would have beaten out New Amsterdam season 4 during that week. Could the fact that the show is shorter in length might have contributed to the problem?
The show had a relatively poor premiere, based on Complete Viewings Equivalent data. So, not a great start in the hourly worldwide top 10, but how is this show doing in different regions? When measuring the daily top tens in nearly 90 countries around the globe, the results weren’t promising.
Freeridge has only appeared in the top ten in 13 countries, and in several of those countries, it only appeared for a single day. The show only rose to the 15th most popular series on Netflix, with the strongest viewings coming from South Africa, the United States, and several Caribbean islands.
By day eight, the show had dropped out of all of Netflix’s top ten lists. Finally, we’ll take a look at the series’ outside statistics. On February 3rd, 2023, the series reached its online high ranking as the 36th most famous show in the world, but its popularity has since sharply declined. Only a few weeks after its debut, it is not even ranked among the top 100 shows.
We should also note the show’s reviews. Many reviews on the internet have criticized the series for not being closely tied to On My Block and for failing to recreate the original series’ charm.
With an estimated 8.27 million watchers in its first week, Freeridge had one of the poorest Netflix debuts ever. While this appears to be an impressive number, it looks small in comparison to other series like The Night Agent, which had a remarkable 20.8 million total watchers only four days after it launched on the site. With this in mind, it is obvious that the show fell short to the point where cancellation was required.
Freeridge Review: Was It Bad?
So I watched all the seasons of On My Block, and I really did like that series. And going into this, I really didn’t have the most expectations since I really like those characters in On My Block and the stories within. I thought Freeridge was good, and this might be better than On My Block for me. Because when you look at these eight episodes, there’s a lot of drama in here and a lot of emotional scenes that make you feel connected to these characters within this first season.
I wished it continued to have a few more seasons to really flesh out the story. At its core, the story is about two sisters, Gloria and Iness, and they fully don’t get along. They hate each other, they’re stabbing each other in the back constantly, and they’re trying to one-up each other. They’re both like somebody, and they’re both trying to date them.
The series is dedicated to a lot of Gloria and Iness and their relationship, and they’re struggling with the loss of their mother; their father is sick as well, and they just do not get along.
But there are moments in here where you get to understand each character, and there are some reprising emotional scenes where these characters are just letting all of their emotions out.
They’re balling, and they’re just sharing everything that’s wrong with their lives. Those moments I do appreciate because you get an understanding of what these characters are going through and how the moments in the past have affected them.
Then thrown in here in the mix of it all is this box they find. And this curse that they believe is bringing this misfortune to everybody. And they believe the rise of one sister will be the downfall of the other, and somebody’s going to die.
There’s this curse that’s happening, and so it’s frantic, and they’re worried about how they can get rid of this curse, and the amidst all of that are the relationships between the sisters and their friends as well. There’s enough dedication to the minor characters as well, and you feel like they play an important part in this series.
On My Block References And Relatableness
Now this isn’t On My Block, and there are a few references to On My Block and a few character name drops, and I don’t want to spoil anything because I did find some things to be surprising.
And when they named dropped a couple of characters, I found that to be pretty fun. So going into it, know that there are a few mentions of On My Block, but for the most part, this is a spinoff focused on new characters, and each character I just love.
They’re flawed characters, and you appreciate them that they feel real, and there’s nothing fake about these characters, and you feel like that’s relatable. All of what they go through in high school, and the rivalry between them too and their constant arguing with each other, what they’re dealing with their father, that all is realistic.
It paints a picture of despite this curse and, like, some funny moments with that, most of it feels very dramatic. And there are some very emotional moments for these characters, and each character has that chance to showcase why they are so emotional and why they hate their sister, and how they can get past certain things in their lives.
Comedy Between Dramatic Situations
Now, much like On My Block, it does have some comedy in here, and the comedy does work. I feel that some of the situations that they’re in are pretty funny. It’s less of like a detour when they have, like, these missions that they’re trying to accomplish, and they’re trying to find people that can help them with their curse. There are not many detours with the story because it focuses on this core group of friends and this curse.
But there are some other moments in here like we have parties and this uncle that’s trying to sell this off White claw drink. There’s some humor within it, and it does feel a little bit lighthearted at times with those more dramatic sequences.
It really does balance those emotional scenes with the comedy. On my block did that fairly well, mixing in that comedy. And when you look at the characters like Ruby and Jamal and all of them within On My Block, the storylines were flushed for them, very similar to Freeridge. The series brought a lot of humor to it and some of the emotional scenes for these characters. But I really liked Freeridge, and I felt connected to these characters and this group more so than the characters in On My Block within that first season.
Obviously, there are more seasons for On My Block, so it feels way more connected to them throughout the whole season. But these few characters in Freeridge within that first season did a great job establishing who they are, the relationships, the back and forth between the characters, the ups, and downs for them as well, what they are going through in the midst of this curse that adds for some humor into it.
It was perfectly mixed for a good spinoff to a show that I did enjoy. It was like the best thing ever, but going into it, my expectations were low, but I really do like these characters, Iness and Gloria.
These sisters and their uncle were pretty funny. And Cam and Demi and what’s going on with their relationships and the mentions for the On My Block series. It does a great job connecting the two, also being a bit different.
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