Palisades Pool Party is a conundrum in the best sense of the word, at once pathos, hysterical, terrible and oddly wonderful, it’s not quite Glee, nor Gossip Girl, but somewhere awkwardly sandwiched between. A show about the twenty four hours surrounding a teen pool party, there is something compelling about it, like a well-orchestrated trainwreck.
We are either in the deftest of hands with creators Tai Fauci and Jack Monroe, or they are getting very very lucky with a bad show. The unevenness of tone leads me to believe it’s a collision of the two. Just take Mischa, played by Danny Zaccagnino, as he gazes morose into the bathroom mirror, shirtless, fingering his hair while some very depressing ‘I might want to kill myself’ music plays in the background in episode one (song is, Overreacting by Brad Sucks – real name – and isn’t a bad tune in and of itself). The moment is slightly over-the-top, slightly erotic and slightly cloying, but I kind of really want to know what he’s about to do, which I’m guessing is either cry or masturbate. And then (spoiler alert) when he pulls out the needle…I’m still wondering if crying and masturbating are on the table perhaps after he shoots up. It’s funny and sad and confusing and totally on the nose, but somehow, someway, entertaining.
Since there isn’t much to go on so far in the teaser and first two episodes for Zaccagnino, I’ll reserve judgment on his acting. That said, the rest of the acting I must admit seemed either adequate or really bad when the show first began. But then as it went on, my initial least favorite, Whitmer Thomas, playing emo-boy next door neighbor, Josh, became my favorite one by the second episode. His angst ridden, mildly effeminate performance had me laughing at the end of episode two, but also caring about whether or not he was going to get the girl of his dreams, popular pool party thrower, next door neighbor Cassidy played by Ashley Schneider.
You see, Josh and Cassidy had sex the night before and now he’s hurt because she didn’t put her super-hot college ex-boyfriend on her ‘Blacklist’ of people that can’t come to her party. Yes, Josh is really that emo. His tantrum in episode one is capped off in ep 2 when Cassidy’s BFF Bianca, played by Katie Seeley (I Kissed a Vampire) forces a kiss on him in front of Cassidy. Oh, the drama. It gets even juicier when Cassidy and Bianca have a hot catfight in Cassidy’s bedroom, ending it amicably as though this is par for the course with this relationship. Which actually makes their friendship complex – in a good way.
