When Christopher Keyser, creator of “Party of Five,” took the stage at the Mass Media Expo in November 2018, he was pretty tight-lipped…
When Christopher Keyser, creator of “Party of Five,” took the stage at the Mass Media Expo in November 2018, he was pretty tight-lipped about his new Netflix show, which was filmed in close to a dozen towns in Massachusetts last year, other than to call it a modern-day “Lord of the Flies.”
That show, titled “The Society,” follows a group of teens who suddenly find their wealthy Connecticut town completely devoid of adults. The youngsters must suddenly fend for themselves in a suburban survival of the fittest.
With all 10 episodes of season one debuting on Netflix Friday (the same day that Burlington native Amy Poehler’s directorial debut “Wine Country” hits the streaming site), much has been revealed about Keyser’s show, though plenty of mystery still remains.
Without spoiling too much, here’s a breakdown of the show’s early plot: Students of fictional Connecticut suburb West Ham who are ages 16 and older all board buses to go on a retreat to the Smokey Mountains. They’re fortunate to leave their town behind for a couple of days, as there’s been a horrible, unexplained smell emanating from the ground recently. Plus, there’s been some weird, biblical graffiti showing up on the walls. Their trip to the mountains is abruptly canceled due to a rock slide, and they’re dropped off back in town by the buses. The smell and biblical graffiti are gone, but so is everyone else. When some of the kids try to drive out of town for help, they’re confronted with endless miles of forests blocking highways, railroads, and every other way out. They’re not in West Ham anymore; they’re in New Ham — or West Sham, as one vandalized road sign reads. It’s a picture-perfect replica of their old town that has zero contact with the outside world.
