The Netflix mini-series “Adolescence” is a four-episode mystery thriller exploring the psychology of a 13-year-old boy, Jamie Miller, who is accused of murdering his female classmate, Katie Leonard. The series is co-created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, with the latter starring as the father of the accused killer.

The show is uniquely shot in a “one-shot” format, meaning that each episode is filmed with one camera with no cuts, all in one flowing motion. This adds an eerie feeling, as the audience is left anticipating a cut that never comes, emphasizing that a person’s death and a perpetrator’s actions have rippling effects on everyone around them that never cease.

The four episodes each follow a different perspective on the events that took place, with the first episode focusing on Jamie’s initial arrest and the evidence of his crime, the second episode examining the culture of the U.K. school system and the effects that Jamie’s crime had on his school community, the third episode focusing on Jamie’s mindset towards what he did and the general issues with how social media affects young minds, and the fourth episode shifting focus on Jamie’s family and the ways in which their lives have been uprooted.

The show mentioned a lot of terms that modern teenagers are familiar with, but that are mostly unknown to their parents and guardians. Words such as “incel,” “red pill” and even the infamous “alpha male” podcaster Andrew Tate are mentioned.

Jamie’s violent act is suggested to be driven by Katie calling him an incel. Jamie’s conversation with his psychologist portrays him as deeply insecure about his appearance and masculinity.

The show sparked widespread conversation about the importance of parents speaking with their children and being aware of what content they are consuming.

The British Parliament backed a decision to show the series in schools to encourage students to think more clearly in regards to social media and their behavior.

There also have been various conversations online about the concept of “victim blaming,” with many viewers debating Katie’s innocence, arguing she “bullied” Jamie into doing what he did.

The police questioned Katie’s friend on how she felt and behaved towards Jamie as well as other boys in their school. Her friend became defensive, interpreting the framing of the question as blame towards Katie.

The series does a good job of showcasing what Jamie did as wrong and inexcusable, while also humanizing him to the audience. He is still a child who was heavily influenced by the people around him and the content he was consuming online.

Jamie is shown to have a healthy, stable and loving home, which is then shattered and leaves his parents wondering what they could have done differently. This leaves the audience feeling like this could happen to anyone, including their own children.

The song “Fragile” by Sting is featured in the show, sung by a choir of children, with the ending lines sung by the actress who plays Katie Leonard as a sort of farewell to the world. Originally released in 1988, the song has since climbed the charts again due to the show’s popularity.

As the lyrics of the song exclaim, “Perhaps this final act was meant / To clinch a lifetime’s argument / That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could.”