Is Sterling Point Worth Watching? Our Honest Review Of The Prime YA Series
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Overview
Megan Park has been a writer/director to watch for a while now, with The Fallout and My Old Ass already securing her a cult following. Her newest offering, Sterling Point, is a young adult series for Prime Video with a difference: it’s an original IP. Unlike Off Campus, The Summer I Turned Pretty or Every Year After, this show doesn’t have an inbuilt fanbase or an audience to appease. Instead, it’s a refreshing Gen Z story that takes care of its characters, giving each person time to develop and reveal themselves to the audience.
The plot follows 17-year-old Annie Jacobson (Ella Rubin) and Connor Jacobson (Keen Ruffalo), adopted twins who find out their estranged grandfather has died and left them a cottage in Muskoka. When Annie discovers her father Steven (Jay Duplass) has been hiding secrets from them, she heads to Canada to figure out the mystery. Along the way, she meets a group of kids at the lake who become her confidantes, friends, romantic interests and more. But this isn’t a show focused on a love triangle. Sure, Annie has love interests, but the most important relationship that develops is between Annie and her surprise sister Ramona (Amélie Hoeferle). Together, the pair gingerly navigate their brand-new relationship while also dealing with the aftermath of their family lying to them.
Below, entertainment writers Rachel Choy and Simran Pasricha dissect Sterling Point, including the joy of seeing a sapphic relationship take centre-stage, how the dialogue felt so natural, and whether there should be a Sterling Point Season 2. Spoilers ahead.
Rachel Choy: I think you were maybe one of the first people to watch the show. I was really interested in Sterling Point because I love Megan Park. Her films are really captivating and she explores complex relationships, grief and different themes, but in a easy way to digest. So what did you love about the show?
Simran Pasricha: I loved how real it felt. It didn’t feel like I was watching a show about Gen Zs. I felt like it was speaking my language, it had similar vernacular. And the references! Like the Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 references, all the things I say and all of my vocal stims, are from that movie. I thought, wow, it’s crazy how they got inside my brain. The actors have said they were allowed to ad lib a lot of things, which adds to the authenticity of the writing. It didn’t feel pretend.
RC: That’s so funny that Camp Rock is Gen Z because I’m technically too old for it, but I watched it, loved it and was obsessed. Like, I watched it at Uni. That’s how old I am.
SP: As you should! You knew taste. You knew culture.
RC: I was like, Camp Rock is my favorite movie ever, and that’s when I started being obsessed with Demi Lovato, and went back and watched Sonny With A Chance. Anyway. Did you watch Every Year After? I feel like Sterling Point nailed this Canada lake genre, unlike EYA.
SP: I did watch Every Year After. I did finish it, but reluctantly. I had hoped that they were gonna nail it especially because it’s a book adaptation and it’s so beloved. But I think in a way that kind of restricted them, because the vernacular is slightly older, because of when the book was written, so you aren’t able to kind of like age up a little bit with what Gen Zs would be saying now. You have to be at least a little bit more faithful to the book. Whereas I think, because Sterling Point is like a completely original idea, you were allowed to make it more authentic.
RC: Yeah, because you’ve got more freedom. You don’t have readers sitting at home being like, why didn’t they put chapter three in?
SP: It’s not to say that they don’t rejig things, like the hands off law in Off Campus was removed… and I think that’s appropriate. So some changes are possible, but in the dialogue, you can tell the difference.
RC: And it was nice that while they sold it like a love triangle a bit in the marketing, it wasn’t really a love triangle. She had a gay boyfriend, which was hilarious. And then suddenly had feelings for the first time for like an actual potential partner, and had a bit of fun with Rory. But made sure to not commit to anything serious. Never led him on, it felt more natural and less of a competition.
I was really interested in Sterling Point because I love Megan Park. Her films are really captivating and she explores complex relationships, grief and different themes, but in a easy way to digest.
SP: I also think the fact that we could root for both of the boys was like a nice thing, you know, it didn’t feel like Jeremiah and Conrad. I know we disagree on that anyway.
RC: Okay, but in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, I’m Team Nobody!!!!
SP: Team Belly.
RC: Not even Team Belly.
SP: Team Everyone Needs To Remain Single.
RC: Exactly.
SP: I liked the fact that both boys were good choices, and I felt satisfied by both. I also think it was interesting and nice that Megan had Annie lose her virginity to Rory and not to Ellis. That seemed cool and normal, you know. Sometimes you just lose it on a whim, and it doesn’t have to be this like build big build up. In the same sense that an intense love triangle probably isn’t very realistic for the majority of people. You know, I actually don’t know anybody who’s ever been in a love triangle for real.
RC: So true. Or between two brothers.
SP: Or a mother telling me that I’m going to marry her son. Like I’ve never had that before. What’s up with that?
RC: I feel like that’s creepy.
Details
SP: Or someone with a lake house or a beach house. Also, I saw this TikTok examining how we don’t have any middle class stories for Gen Zs. So that was one thing that kind of took me out a little bit. There was a safety net that always existed for Annie. Ultimately, Annie is this rich girl coming to this lake area. I feel like they were supposed to have that dynamic of middle and upper class, but I don’t know if it was really there.
RC: Nobody is really struggling, everyone has a boat.
SP: Sometimes that is nice at the same time. I love an escapism TV moment.
RC: The other thing is we’ve had so many same-sex male relationships, with Heated Rivalry, Red, White and Royal Blue, that straight women in particular have gone feral for, way too intensely sometimes. Same in the realm of fanfic. So it was really nice to see the Oona and Ramona storyline, I liked that.
SP: It felt really natural and normal, and I also have been liking the reactions to it. It hasn’t been a fetishization situation. We don’t get a lot of lesbian romance arcs in media whatsoever. But I think it’s interesting to see the reaction online. Some people are asking why Oona couldn’t be made bisexual.
RC: I’m guessing sometimes writers make their characters bisexual to make things easier for the audience in a twisted way?
SP: Yeah, I think it’s easier for audiences to like digest something that they understand if that makes sense. I guess you know, the chance of something akin to heterosexuality is there for them, and therefore they’re excited about that, which is a really f**ked up position to put a lot of people in. But there was so much joy and care taken with the storylines. Every side story didn’t feel like a side story, if that makes sense. I was invested in all of the stories pretty equally, I would say.
RC: You don’t want to fast forward anything.
SP: No, and I am a fast forwarder. I watch and I skip parts of shows constantly. If I get too nervous or awkward in a show, I’m skipping it. I felt like I could go through this whole show without skipping anything, which was honestly very rare for me.
It felt really natural and normal, and I also have been liking the reactions to it. It hasn’t been a fetishization situation. We don’t get a lot of lesbian romance arcs in media whatsoever.
RC: The only thing that I wasn’t sure about it was they were quite young to be doing all this stuff. They don’t have to be old, but maybe 20 or something might feel a bit more natural. You know, what 17-year-old is going off to Canada or Thailand on their own by leaving a note? How is a 16-year-old allowed to swan around and like do whatever she wants without her legal guardian actually being like, “Hey, I’m your legal guardian.” I think it’s because of the inheritance thing, because it made that they received their inheritance at 18, but they surely could have made it so that you get your inheritance at 21.
SP: I think it made it a little bit more realistic about how rash they were in their decision-making, though. I feel like some families are more lax. And it seemed like the dad was kind of not super present anyway. But I would have liked to have gone into the relationship between Annie and her dad a little bit more, because it was confusing. The adoption storyline wasn’t really tackled either.
RC: Maybe that’s for Season 2. They’ve set it up for the story to continue. It’s not a huge cliffhanger, but it makes you want to know what’s going to happen, and you’re invested in every single character. So, do you think it’s worth watching?
SP: Sterling Point was a really pleasant surprise. I feel like the writing that we’ve been getting recently from original TV shows has been awesome. Season 2 of Adults is really good writing. I’m so excited for everyone to see it. Even Overcompensating, I love it. It’s cringe, but in the best way possible. It’s been really nice having like OG storytelling really find its place. And I think Megan Park is a genius director, creator, and writer.
RC: I hope everyone watches Sterling Point and then it gets a second season.
SP: I really hope so, or I’ll be really upset. That’s right. This is a threat.
RC: And you’re right to threaten them!
SP: It’s for the greater good.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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