South of Nowhere

I’d just seen Tegan and Sara and wanted to find something that felt like that—queer, restless, alive. The O.C. was ending in Germany anyway, so I was ready for whatever came next. Someone told me about South of Nowhere.

It starts with Spencer, whose family moves her from Ohio to Los Angeles, and within days she’s close with Ashley, this lesbian girl who doesn’t fit anywhere at her new school. The cheerleaders hate them. The basketball players resent them. There’s real stakes to it in a way The O.C. never bothers with.

The first few episodes have this sharp, restless energy. It doesn’t make Los Angeles look beautiful. Race, sexuality, pregnancy—just woven through, no big moral moments. The writing moves forward like it’s got somewhere to be. Thirty minutes and you’re done.

Gabrielle Christian plays Spencer. She looks like a young Amanda Bynes—there’s something in how she holds her face that makes you believe she’s still figuring out who she is. I found myself just watching her.

I wanted German television to air it. There’s something satisfying about finding a show that actually works, that found its audience and refused to apologize for what it is.