Spinning Out

Uneven but mostly engrossing, it combines the unflinching class struggles of I, Tonya, the star-crossed romance of The Cutting Edge and the disability-as-tragedy goopiness of Ice Castles. This series would be totally at home on Freeform were it not for the free-flowing sex, drugs and profanity.

“Spinning Out” is two parts a sincere, nuanced tale of the jarring intersection between mental illness and aspiration, and three parts an overbaked, sickly-sweet melodrama that desperately tries – and fails – to tug at the heartstrings.

It’s a mess of contradictions. Things are fascinatingly gruesome and blunt—a skater accidentally impales her foot with her own skate—but also cringe-inducingly maudlin and melodramatic. ... Spinning Out is highly bingeable. It’s also bad. I recommend it. You wouldn’t care either way.

The series has all the right ingredients for an addictive watch: a solid premise, some compelling actors, and some classic teen show tensions and rhythms in the earnest vein of “Degrassi” braiding it all together. But as the season plods towards its uneven finale, “Spinning Out” instead does exactly what its title promises instead of sticking the landing.

The key here is to manage your expectations and accept that not everything has to be prestige television to be enjoyable. Because there is definitely an audience who will find happiness in Spinning Out's Cutting Edge-like narrative and over-the-top theatrics, and their interests should not be discounted.

This is a very unique TV drama that tackles many difficult issues in a respectable and realistic manner. It's entertaining and engrossing and is one of the best Netflix originals around these days.