To grow old is to disabuse ourselves of the concept of that everlasting, unconditional love spoon-fed to us fresh out the womb by Disney animated films and anatomically incorrect Mattel dolls. “Everlasting” and “unconditional” fall victim to career moves, infidelity, parenthood, divorce and adult-onset diabetes…not to mention those tired 50-50, “what do you bring to the table?” discussions that linger in the zeitgeist like unpaid bills.
But even the most jaded among us never forget our earliest, purest experiences of young love – when we were sentient raw nerves myopic to adult concerns who’d give every dollar of our minimum wage Wendy’s salaries to get close enough to our crush to smell their perfume. It’s what makes Mara Brock Akil’s fantastic new Netflix teen romance series “Forever” eminently watchable…and quite possibly the best Black love story ever set to a screen.
An adaptation of the eponymous 1975 Judy Blume novel, “Forever” follows the budding love story of Keisha (Lovie Simone) and Justin (Michael Clark Jr.), Los Angeles teenagers from somewhat different sides of the track who reunite in high school after years removed from being pre-school classmates. Justin is a perfectly awkward yet complex soul trying to find himself in love and life; Clark gives him the smoldering intensity of a young man on the precipice of greatness…but who still needs a Black woman (or women) to get him over the hump.
Even more compelling is Simone’s Keisha…not quite a revelation for those who watched her in five seasons of “Greenleaf,” but here delivers a star-making turn as a young woman weighed down by the burden of pleasing numerous disparate souls while also alone shouldering the betrayal of an ex who leaked their sex tape. She recalls Viola Davis in how she conveys a range of emotions without opening her mouth.
“Forever’s” eight episodes cover seemingly every facet of teen life and love over the course of a couple years in a way that a feature film couldn’t. Athletics, peer pressure, grades, college applications, annoying siblings, parental restrictions — it’s all here. Of course, this includes their effort to get it in: The show doesn’t emphasize sex as much as its source material does (which has gotten it banned many times), but, like HBO’s “Euphoria,” it’s a young adult show that’s not for kids.
Every supporting character is intentional and well-written, especially Justin’s parents, loving but stern corporate girlie Dawn (Karen Pittman, “The Morning Show”) and equally loving but more grounded restauranteur dad Eric (Wood Harris, “The Wire”). They’re probably the most compelling, watchable married-with-children couple ever committed to television.
Perhaps “Forever’s” greatest credit is its refusal to succumb to conventional Black cinematic trauma: There’s no terminal illness, corner boy aspirations, crippling drug or alcohol abuse; or incarceration – just two college-bound Black kids trying to figure their shit out. Sure, there’s a narrative about the dangers of Black boys driving a nice car alone at night, but the stakes are otherwise contained — it’s a testament to Akil’s masterful writing that so many grownups are bingeing a show to see a will-they or wont-they about two people who aren’t old enough to buy a pack of smokes.
Oh, and the soundtrack…? Complete flames, from Gregory Porter to The Migos to Daniel Caesar to SZA to Alabama Shakes to Childish Gambino. Gary Gunn’s ethereal score is also fantastic.
Those fiending for a season 2 of “Forever” are missing the point of the show: It doesn’t need a sequel, or a “20-years-later,” because the fates of Justin and Keisha are best left to the imagination. It would undermine the show – and Blume’s book – to explore these characters when they’re dealing with their first prescription pills. It might go against conventional belief, but the best “complete” love stories are not the ones that take us from root to stem.
In giving us a nuanced story that covers a brief but pivotal snapshot in time for couple, Akil created what might be the most complete love story we’ve ever seen – Black or otherwise.