This review contains spoilers for The Stranded on Netflix.
Foreign language shows on Netflix don’t always get the appreciation they deserve. More often than not, Netflix’s more well-known catalog gets pushed to the forefront. However, click past the homepage and top ten and you’ll find shows just as good, if not better than their English counterparts. The Stranded is one of those shows. Combine Lost, Lord of the Flies, and The Society and you’ll get a Thai teen survival story that holds its own in the genre. On its surface, The Stranded might seem cliche. After all, how many shows about a group of teenagers fighting to survive can you watch in one lifetime? But, though the show doesn’t completely reinvent the wheel, it does take a realistic, layered approach to its story, specifically its characters, that sets it apart.
The Premise
We pick up on the last day of school at an elite private school. Students at the school, which is located on an isolated island, plan a party to celebrate their imminent departure. But before the partying can get too out of hand, a tsunami strikes the island, leaving those teens that survive stranded with no escape in sight. As they try to find a way off the island, each character takes on new roles, changing the dynamics of the group for better or worse.
One character in particular, Kraam (Papangkorn Lerkchaleampote), plays a vital role in the narrative. The only one not at the party the night of the tsunami, Kraam should have drowned with his adoptive father, and it looked like he did. But 25 days later, he is very much alive and stranded alongside all the other teens. Except now he’s plagued by strange, supernatural dreams. These dreams could be the difference between life and death.
What I Enjoyed
As a lover of character-driven stories, right out of the gate, that was what appealed to me about this show. There were many characters that I loved. Even those I didn’t particularly like were interesting enough to keep me engaged in their storylines. The main characters didn’t feel one-dimensional. Though they took on many of the typical roles in a series like this — the rational leader, the impulsive leader, the medical expert, the outcast — these roles didn’t determine their personalities. Take Ying (Ticha Wongthipkanont) who comes across as a one-dimensional, popular girl when first introduced. She turns out to be much more than that. She’s more open-minded than most on the island. She’s smart and capable, and her moments with Arisa (Chaleeda Gilbert) had me invested in their relationship because all these sides of her were pushed to the forefront.
May (Chayanit Chansangavej) was another stand-out character. We’re first introduced to May as the resident medical expert. She seems put together, ready to tackle whatever comes at her. But when faced with the group’s first casualty, she has to grapple with the responsibility placed on her. It’s impossible to expect a high-schooler with limited medical knowledge to save everyone, yet people look to her for help. Coupled with her tumultuous relationship with Anan (Chutavuth Pattarakampol) and growing feelings for Kraam, May’s character was one of the most well-rounded in the series.
Going beyond characters, I found the approach to certain aspects of the plot realistic in ways that other shows sometimes fail to be. For one, the show doesn’t pull punches with deaths. The first loss comes early in the first episodes, forcing the kids to face reality quickly. This continues throughout the series and heightens into chaos by the end as tensions grow within the group. Smaller details added to the show’s realism as well. Many feel that romance and typical teen issues cheapen shows like these. I agree that the plot can lose focus in favor of trivial relationship drama much of the time. But I think it’s impossible to expect a group of teens to not want to feel normal in an abnormal situation. The relationships and the casual flings in The Stranded felt well-balanced enough that they didn’t take away from the central plot.
What Could Have Been Better
The strong point of this series was the characters for me. The plot was intriguing, not to mention unique. Not all survival shows have portals to other dimensions and doppelgangers to boot. However, despite the intrigue, the full potential of the plot wasn’t delivered by the end of the show. We spend most of our time wondering who Professor Lin (Sinjai Plengpanich) really is and if she can be trusted. When they find the second, or possibly the first, Professor Lin in a cave, we never really get a conclusion on which is the real Professor Lin, if any.
Similarly, the origin of the portals, Nahm’s own psychic ability, and other supernatural aspects of the show remain unexplained. Based on the ending, it seems that producers were aiming for a second season. Kraam steps through a portal and ends up high on a mountain where he encounters a group of teens. One of these teens is Joey, a boy on the island who died after falling while climbing with Kraam. Clearly, the doppelgangers don’t end with Professor Lin. If there was a second season, the questions left unanswered throughout the show might be negligible. However, since its release in 2019, there has been no sign of a sequel. As a standalone series, the plot pitfalls are made more obvious.
Characterwise, I would have liked to see more of the character’s lives before the tsunami hit. We get flashbacks, for some more than others, but ones like Arisa and Ying, don’t get very in-depth past scenes. It also would have been nice to see the initial aftermath of the disaster to some extent rather than having an immediate time skip to when the group was more settled in. Jack, Krit, and Jan’s storyline was another I would have loved to see fleshed out more.
Jack’s death is a real turning point on the island as it triggers Jan’s extreme reaction. Flashbacks of Jan and Jack, along with Krit, all together would have shown us more of their relationship, making viewers empathize with her more. After Jan imprisons Krit, he is no longer seen by the end. We can assume he escapes along with Kraam, but there’s no clear outcome to his storyline.
As Netflix’s first Thai original, The Stranded has much to offer. Despite its flaws, it brings interesting performances and storylines. And many stand-outs in the cast elevate the show where the plot is lacking. Since The Stranded, Netflix has released various other Thai language movies and TV shows, notably the popular original series, Girl From Nowhere. Here’s to hoping more of these shows make their way onto Netflix’s homepage and screens around the world.
