The CW television network is famous, though some would say infamous, for broadcasting teen dramas such as; Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, and Reign. A new show has been added on to this list, Star- Crossed. The show does not stray from the usual atmosphere of CW shows, but it does offer one unusual twist; some of the characters, including the male lead, are aliens. The first season of the new science fiction drama premiered in February 2014.
Star- Crossed revolves around two characters a human teenage girl named Emery and an alien teenage boy named Roman. The plot of the shows begins when a space ship, carrying an alien race called the Atrians, crashes down in a small town in Louisiana. A six-year-old Roman takes shelter in Emery’s shed and she takes care of him until the authorities capture him and the other Atrians. Emery believes that they have all been killed, but they all secretly live in an isolated area created by the government, which is more like a prison, called the sector. Ten years later six Atrian teenagers, including Roman, are given the opportunity to enroll in the local high school in order to test human and alien interactions. At this time Roman and Emery meet again discovering that they still share a strong bond, but a difficult road still lies ahead of them.
The University of New Orleans, where the show is filmed, summarizes the major issue “Political and personal drama ensues as small-minded communities work to understand and adapt – and the Atrians begin to form relationships with high school students.”
The science fiction show stars Aimee Teegarden as Emery and Matt Lanter as Roman. These stars have become extremely popular with a teenage audience but reviewers are not as appreciative, the San Francisco Chronicle writes “Most of the performances are inauthentic.” Teegarden has previously starred in Friday Night Lights and the Disney movie, Prom. Latner was the main character in the parody movie Vampires Suck.
The cast of Star-Crossed also includes a plethora of other actors that have starred in various shows that are aimed toward young adults. Titus Makin, who plays Emery’s best friend and is accepting of the Atrians, has previously starred in Glee. Greg Finley, who plays an Artrian who has strong hatred toward humans, was a main character in Secret Life of an American Teenager.
The show deals with major themes that relate to teenagers such as prejudice and love. The aliens are looked down upon and deemed inferior by the population of the small Louisiana town, and this prejudice only seems to grow inside the high school. Despite these harsh realities of prejudice and other high school problems, love is the major theme. Another reviewer reported “There’s a serious story of prejudice hiding underneath. That serious side–a look into the good and bad of humanity when faced with the “other”–is as compelling as it gets.”
Many have compared the science fiction drama to the story of Romeo and Juliet. Emery and Roman both come from two groups that hate each other and their love is not understood. The Times-Picayune reported, “”There’s a Romeo and Juliet angle of what it is to accept people into your life who are not accepted by those around you.”
