From IMDb: “Aspiring singer Tori Vega navigates life while attending a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts.”
What I like:
- I first caught a rerun of Victorious in 2014, the year after it had ended. I was in a different phase of my life and trying to shy away from “Hard-R” rated material that had suddenly start to make me feel uncomfortable. While flipping through the channels, I stumbled upon the show and was immediately hooked by the tween-centered humor, which lies right between family-friendly and mild innuendo. It was exactly what I needed at that time, and it help carry me through my Dad’s eventual passing away within the year. Its light-hearted laughs, awkward characters and catchy tunes carried me through the roughest part of my life. I don’t have cable anymore, and I hadn’t watched it in almost 5 years until Netflix just added it to their service. Thankfully the show is still great, still making me laugh and feel good so many years after missing it.
- Well-written characters are the main focus of the show. Most of them don’t really have “arcs”, but the overall story line doesn’t need them to have one (if you watch the show, you’ll understand).
- Those characters that do have arcs service that overall story line. One of those characters is a pre-super-mega-star Ariana Grande. There’s also a couple (that the fans lovingly nicknamed “Bade“) within the context of the show that goes through a story arc that spans all of the seasons, resolving itself toward the very end of the series.
- Grammy winning producer Leon Thomas III is also one of the main cast members.
- Shout-out to Daniela Monet for the amount of great physical comedy she performs throughout the series.
- You can definitely see the evolution of the show throughout the seasons. The humor gets sillier but better while the main premise of “Teen Stardom” gradually shifts. This works within the universe the show established, with the final season being the most developed and funniest. It also had the best clips during the intro song, more focused on everyone instead of mostly just rando-kids dancing around. I’ve included that later intro below, instead of the usual trailer.
- Speaking of the final season, certain aspects of the show that were pretty much only reserved for lead Victoria Justice‘s character were now allowed by other cast members, such as their use of “The Slap”, a Twitter-ish social media platform.
- Occasionally breaks the 4th-wall in the most subtle ways.
- It kinda’ makes me miss high school.
What I didn’t like:
- Because of the expansion of the main characters, certain characters like Lane the guidance counselor, Andre’s grandmother and Tori’s dad had their roles severely reduced.
Overall: Re-visiting it has been an absolute treat. Not only was I able to see episodes that I had missed before, but I was able to take in the whole journey of these characters I love…especially Jade (played by the Dynasty reboot’s Elizabeth Gillies). Heart-eyes emoji FOREVER, Jade! But anyway, don’t be deterred just because it’s a show aimed at teenagers; Adults CAN enjoy shows that don’t have sex/nudity, violence and drug use. If you’re looking for fun characters in episodes and situations that will make you laugh away life’s monotony, then watch Victorious on Netflix.
Jose Zuazua is editor-in-chief of Quick Lunch Break Reviews. He has an associates degree in film production and has been published both online and in print for Los Angeles City College’s award-winning Collegian newspaper. He’s on Twitter and Instagram, and is also currently writing his first short novel.
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