Lois Duncan (1934-2016) lamented that her 1973 YA suspense novel “I Know What You Did Last Summer” was adapted into a slasher movie in 1997. So it’s probably a blessing she’s not around to see the eight-episode TV version of this long-titled horror saga (Amazon Prime). (The first four hours have aired, and the next four will follow on Fridays.)
A sexed-up series
Like the film, the TV series is firmly in the slasher genre, but the kills are more spread out. Episodes can go by without a kill, but when they occur they are inventive like in the “Slasher” TV series, rather than simple meat-hook swipes from a revenge-seeker.
But in a country where sex is considered more offensive than violence, “IKWYDLS” – developed by “Gossip Girl” veteran Sara Goodman — stands out. This likewise contrasts with Duncan’s novel, which focuses on how guilt eats away at the teens who accidentally kill someone with their car and cover it up.
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” Season 1 (2021)
Amazon Prime, 8 episodes (the first four have aired)
Creator: Sara Goodman
Stars: Madison Iseman, Brianne Tju, Bill Heck
By episode four, I felt like I was watching soft-core porn more than a slasher. The core group of Hawaii teens are all sexed-up, and all of them might be bisexual. We meet them at a lavish beach house party loaded with sex, drugs and racy dance beats.
Madison Iseman (“Annabelle Comes Home”) plays twin sisters Lennon and Allison; the former runs a sex-video website behind a paywall while the latter is shy and sweet. Margo (Brianne Tju) is Lennon’s rich friend who runs a fashion/makeup vlog like the girl in “He’s All That.” Trailer-park girl Riley (Ashley Moore) deals high-end drugs.
Johnny (Sebastian Amoruso) is the popular gay teen who now openly dates the gym teacher since graduation. And Dylan (Ezekiel Goodman) – called “Sad Boy” by his pals — would be uncool in the 1980s but in the 2020s has girls draped all over him. He’s in love with Allison (aww).
Cups of tea
These teens occupy a world where sexuality and drugs are normalized to the point where Gen-X viewers will say “If that’s what parties are like nowadays, I’m locking my kid in their room.”
But as for the parents on the show, well, they are at the party too. Bruce (Bill Heck) drives Allison there, hoping his sadder daughter will have some fun. A bartender by trade, Bruce regularly has daytime trysts with police chief Lyla (Fiona Rene). Margo’s mom (Sonya Balmores, “Beyond the Break”) runs her daughter’s one-girl influencer industry.
The only difference between the generations’ behavior is that the teens use new slang. If you’re taking notes, “tea” means “gossip.”
It sounds like I’m describing a crass show that aims for titillation and shock value. Certainly, all of these teens are self-centered. But there’s more to “IKWYDLS.” While these young people populate the same sphere of values, they likewise pop off the screen as individuals. Immediately, I grasp who is who among Lennon’s friends.
Seeing double
That’s important because I spend a lot of time saying “OK, that one is Allison, and that one is Lennon” – especially since Lennon makes up her sister to look identical to her in the party sequence. And Iseman doesn’t play the twins all that differently – but for a good reason, as revealed at the end of episode one.
For all the show’s shallowness, the relationships are genuine. I love how Bruce immediately recognizes Allison when she walks into the house, even though she’s wearing Lennon’s jacket.
In real life, a parent knows which twin is which. This is partly because they know their kids better than anyone. It’s also because identical twins aren’t really identical. So “IKWYDLS” is a little dishonest by casting Iseman in both roles. But it’s all in good fun.
Is it a mystery?
A whodunit element could add more fun to “IKWYDLS.” In all its forms, the saga has had a weird relationship with the mystery genre. The novel isn’t quite a mystery. The first film kind of is, kind of isn’t. It’s obvious from the get-go that the guy they ran over somehow survived and is back for revenge. Other suspects are presented but not to the point where we take it seriously.
On the TV series, the person they run over – despite supposedly being dead and washed out to sea — is such an obvious lead suspect that the teens openly talk about it. We also see that the town’s crazy woman, Clara (Brooke Bloom), saw what the teens did that night.
So is this not a mystery at all? Is Clara the person leaving messages and killing people? A wispy woman, it seems unlikely she pulled off the “Slasher”-type kills of the first four episodes. Then again, is this the type of show that cares about logic like that?
I’m inclined to give “IKWYDLS” the benefit of the doubt. It’s not a down-the-middle adaptation of either the novel or the first movie; it’s a very 2021 product. Whether its portrayal of modern teens is remotely accurate or not, it creates a vibrant world within our screens.
The show’s pleasures lean guilty. But hey, at least the theme of guilt ties back to Duncan’s novel.