March 29, 2024

Over the past few years, streaming mogul Netflix has launched countless shows such as “Umbrella Academy,” “Haunting at Hill House,” with some of their latest titles “Cheer,” and “Spinning Out.”

“Spinning Out” became available for streaming on January 1 of this year and stars Kaya Scodelario, known for her roles in “The Maze Runner,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” and “Skins,” as well as Willow Shields (“The Hunger Games”), Evan Roderick (“Arrow”), and January Jones (“X-Men: First Class”).

While the title might allude to figure skating, it’s actually a reference to Kat and her mother’s, battle with bipolar disorder. According to an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, when approaching the topic of mental health, the writer of the show Samantha Stratton said that there was a team in communication with doctors and psychiatric groups while developing the show to ensure that they were properly representing the disorder. Stratton didn’t want to write a “woman-on-the-verge story,” but rather a “story about someone who could learn to live with her disorder and who could thrive.”

Scodelario plays a figure skater, Kat Baker, who is recovering from a serious fall and is trying to find her footing back on the ice. In an effort to get back into the competition Baker decides to become her love interest’s, Justin Davis (Roderick), partner in pair skating with dreams of making it to the Olympics.

The pair skate pushes Baker to rely on someone other than herself for the first time, ever. It takes a lot out of the duo, but they are eventually able to find common ground.

Off the ice, Kat encounters battles with her mother, her mental health, her sister and herself. Carol Baker (Jones), struggles with her mental health and often makes poor choices when it comes to her children. That includes emptying Kat’s bank account to pay for her sister Serena’s (Shields) trainers, making them get up out of bed in the middle of the night to run and train. When Carol and Kat come to a crossroads, Kat opts to move out and into her trainer’s spare room. Finding control over her own life, she steps out of the walls she has built for herself and into the world. Though there are a few missteps with Kat and her mental health, her friends and mother are there to help her after falling deeply into her mania.

Kat does just that by the cliffhanger and conclusion of season one when she and Justin skate to see if their Olympic dreams can become a reality.

The range of costumes, character arcs and developments will leave the viewer spinning and craving more. It’s easy to fantasize about the tiny ski town where the show is set while walking with Kat and Justin into the skating rink. It’s easy for viewers to find a character that they relate to with such a range of individuals within the show. Kat is spunky and independent, Justin is the brooding love interest, Carol is a flawed parent, Marcus (Mitchell Edwards) is the scorned best friend and lover there is someone for everyone.

The show, running only 10 episodes, was recently cancelled by Netflix. The fans are furious and currently have a petition running to get Netflix to pick “Spinning Out” back up that as of Feb. 10 had 29,695 signatures according to Change.org.

Will the show be picked back up? Will Justin and Kat make it to the Olympics? All of that hangs in the balance at Netflix, but until then you can stream “Spinning Out” exclusively on Netflix.

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