Kevin Williamson returns to North Carolina with ‘The Waterfront,' but with less soapy fun than ‘Dawson's Creek'
A hijacking at sea opens the first episode, setting the tone for the fairly generic crime story to come, as the once-powerful Buckley family faces off against various ruthless underworld kingpins. There are no Buckleys on the commandeered vessel, though, and family patriarch Harlan (Holt McCallany) is introduced in bed with a woman who isn't his wife, possibly having a heart attack after overindulging in sex and booze. There's nothing new about this situation for Harlan's wife Belle (Maria Bello), who nods to the mistress as she arrives to take care of her husband.
(L to R) Humberly González as Jenna Tate and Jake Weary as Cane Buckley.
Dana Hawley/Netflix/DANA HAWLEY/NETFLIX
That scene hints at a playful dynamic that only intermittently returns during the rest of the season, as the Buckleys are consumed by the dangers of their ill-advised smuggling operation. At first, lumbering failson Cane (Weary) is in charge of the drug running, but the opening boat attack proves that he's in over his head, and he soon seeks help from his father, who has been trying to leave his own criminal past behind. It doesn't take long to get the whole family involved, including recovering-addict sister Bree (Melissa Benoist) and even her dopey teenage son Diller (Brady Hepner).
Advertisement
The kid's main function is to be a constant Diller in distress, and the Buckleys in general do not live up to their supposed reputation as shrewd dealmakers. They find themselves outmatched by one murderous drug lord after another, always bumbling their way toward survival just until the next threat arises. Topher Grace enlivens the stock crime storyline when he pops up in the fourth episode as disturbingly friendly heroin supplier Grady, who brags that he's been diagnosed as a narcissistic sociopath. Grady quickly falls into his own repetitive pattern, though, offering generous terms only to turn violent when he makes more urgent demands.
(L to R) Topher Grace as Grady, Josh Crotty as Nate, and Brady Hepner as Diller Hopkins in "The Waterfront."
Dana Hawley/Netflix/DANA HAWLEY/NETFLIX
Meanwhile, the campy soap opera continues in the background, although it's increasingly out of place as the dead bodies pile up. Cane is torn between his picture-perfect wife Peyton (Danielle Campbell) and his more grounded ex-girlfriend Jenna (Humberly González), who returns to town to care for her ailing father and take over the family hardware store. A late-season bonding scene between the two women delivers a satisfyingly sharp catharsis, but it comes off as slightly absurd when the man they both love is simultaneously being menaced by armed thugs.
Bree has it even worse, complaining about being sidelined by her family only for the show to do the same thing to her. Her addiction functions as a plot device to connect her with a shady DEA agent who's nosing around the Buckley family's suspicious finances, and her fraught relationship with Diller is poorly developed, with vague references to a past alcohol-fueled mishap that led to her burning down their house. Her custody battle with her ex-husband amounts to a handful of shouting matches before she's back playing catch-up with her family's nefarious deeds.
Advertisement
As the soft-spoken but savvy matriarch, Maria Bello gives the show's best performance — and is the only actor to attempt a credible Southern accent — but her Belle too has to take a backseat to her male relatives. Her brief dalliance with a real-estate developer played by Dave Annable gives her a spark of sensual energy, but that also eventually plays into the overarching criminal enterprise.
Annable's presence is a reminder that 'The Waterfront' could have turned out like his enjoyably cheesy ABC soap 'Brothers & Sisters,' with enough intricate family dynamics that the escalating crime plot wouldn't be necessary. Instead, Netflix appears to be positioning the show as the new 'Ozark,' but it's not dark or nasty enough to emulate that hit thriller. It more closely recalls Netflix also-ran 'Bloodline,' a Southern-set family crime drama with a fantastic cast and mostly inert drama.
'You're either all-in or dead,' Harlan tells Cane as the younger Buckley wavers on their criminal activities. 'The Waterfront' goes all in, but too often that leaves its most entertaining elements dead in the water.
THE WATERFRONT
Starring: Holt McCallany, Jake Weary, Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist. On Netflix
Advertisement
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
42 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Diego Luna says Hollywood only offered drug dealer roles before ‘Star Wars'
Diego Luna revealed his personal experiences with Latinx typecasting in Hollywood prior to taking on the Empire in 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.' During an installment of the Hollywood Reporter's roundtable interview series, 'Off Script,' the Mexican star of the Emmy-nominated series 'Andor' revealed he was only offered drug dealer roles before he hyper-sped his way into a galaxy far, far away. 'Before 'Star Wars,' the only projects I'd get offered would be [about] drug dealers,' Luna said during the discussion, which included fellow drama actors Walton Goggins and Adam Scott. 'I could be the nice drug dealer and not the vicious one, but still a drug dealer.' The Golden Globe-nominated actor has been acting since he was a child in his native country of Mexico. He starred in various telenovelas during the 1990s before making his cinematic breakthrough in 2001 with Alfonso Cuarón's Oscar-nominated film, 'Y Tu Mamá También.' Luna would later appear in English-language films, such as Steven Spielberg's 2004 movie 'The Terminal' with Tom Hanks, as well as 'Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,' in which Luna played the main love interest. He eventually starred in Netflix's cartel TV series, 'Narcos: Mexico,' as Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, a founder of the Guadalajara Cartel. Luna added that Hollywood productions were not 'sending messages' that he could be himself in projects where he could see himself reflected in the roles. 'I remember being asked, 'Are you going to clean up your accent?' That's not part of the conversation anymore,' he said. 'But when I was 20, it was like, 'Man, you're great, and if you work with your accent, you'll be doing what this person or that person is doing.' And you go, 'Why would I like to do that? This is what makes me unique.'' Luna's presence in American productions has arguably helped increase the small percentage of Latinx representation in Hollywood; according to a 2023 report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Latinx people represent 19% of the U.S. population, but they only account for 4.4% of actors in lead or co-lead roles. And when they do appear on screen, the study revealed, they tend to depict people who are immigrants and living in poverty, as well as characters that skew violent, angry and criminal. In February, Netflix committed $1 billion in Mexico productions of series and films, in hopes of creating opportunities for Latinx people nationwide, according to the Hollywood Reporter. 'This investment, and the productions derived therefrom, will benefit Mexican production companies and will contribute to the growth of the local audiovisual industry,' said Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, during the press conference announcing the investment.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
What Did Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Chandi Dayle Do? The Bahamas Incident Explained
Chandi Dayle, one of the longest-serving members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, had a challenging final season with the squad. In Season 2 of Netflix's America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, the respected team leader broke a major team rule during a trip to the Bahamas and ultimately took a leave of absence. Dayle joined the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) in 2019 and became a prominent member of the organization over her six seasons, including being selected as a Pro Bowl cheerleader in 2024. The second installment of the docuseries touches on the veteran's journey to making the 2024–2025 squad and becoming a first-group leader. In addition to speaking on the difficulties of being a group leader, Dayle was also very open about her past abusive relationship. In Episode 6, Dayle shared that her ex-boyfriend was emotionally and physically abusive on multiple occasions. 'Things progressively got worse with him,' she said. 'We broke up and at that time, I met my boyfriend now. I started getting random messages from many different fake numbers describing exactly what my boyfriend was wearing. He was a stalker.' As she was driving to the police station, she recalled him pulling up beside her car, smashing his car door into hers and getting out to threaten her boyfriend's life. Unfortunately, she was unable to obtain protection despite filing police reports for domestic violence, harassment and stalking due to lack of evidence. Dayle's relationship with the DCC took a turn at the end of Episode 6 during the team retreat to the Bahamas. When the squad returned to Texas, Dayle was no longer serving as a leader, sparking speculation among the other cheerleaders about what had happened. Head choreographer Judy Trummel said that Chandi had to take a leave of absence from the team. In a confessional, Dayle admitted to the cameras that she had been 'struggling mentally' and had done bad things to herself before. "I can't do it anymore," she said. "Like, I was at the end of my rope, and I just wanna, like quit." On America's Sweethearts, Dayle's actions in the Bahamas came to light in Season 2, Episode 7. Fourth-year veteran KayDianna said that Chandi was doing 'little small things that were weird,' but you would "never pick up on that something big is going down." Fifth-year vet Jada McLean then explained that Chandi broke protocol in the Bahamas by bringing 'somebody' into her room that no one had known, which made some dancers fear for their safety. 'A lot of people were worried for their safety because they didn't know who this individual was. If that was me, I probably wouldn't want to be in a room with a stranger either,' McLean explained. 'To other people, it came off as, 'Oh my gosh, you put me in danger.' Or, 'You weren't worried about my safety.' But I don't think she thought of that in an almost just naïve way. She wasn't thinking about that at all. She was kind of thinking about what she needed at the time,' she continued. Chandi later addressed the incident and said she invited the person because she needed someone to talk to about the struggles going on in her life. 'When we took the trip to the Bahamas, I met someone and we shared similar things that have happened in our past. I was just like kind of crumbling down and I was like, 'Dang, I feel like I have no one here to talk to and so it's nice to have someone to confide in,'' she explained. Chandi broke DCC protocol when she brought someone the team didn't know back to the Bahamas hotel room where other members of the squad were staying. 'In our contract, it specifically even states that we are not allowed to give out information like that. Specific information like location, the hotel – that would put anyone in harm's way,' KayDianna explained in the docuseries, adding that they still didn't know who the man was and that there were a lot of unknowns. Chandi admitted she broke DCC protocol and acknowledged that the Bahamas trip was not the right setting for what happened. 'I broke a DCC rule and had time with my friend, and it was like the first time I really like mental-dumped everything… and everything that was happening and everything I've gone through and everything that was making me feel and think certain things,' she said. The former DCC cheerleader continued, 'It helped me in the moment. Like I get it – it was probably the wrong place and time to do that. But selfishly, I had to do it for me because I feel like I was just losing it." In an exclusive interview with People, McLean and fellow dancers Charly Barby, Armani Latimer and Kelly Villares said they were proud of how they handled the "unfortunate situation" with Chandi. "There are things that go on in any workplace. Situations come up, and I think the biggest thing is how you handle it," McLean said. 'I think we did our best as a team to handle it professionally while still being supportive of her.' By the end of the 2024–2025 season, Dayle returned to the team, but not as a group leader. In a confessional, she said it was 'really nice' not being a first leader anymore, after previously sharing how difficult the role had been earlier in the season. Finglass praised Dayle for doing 'a great job for the situation she's in' and said it was 'very hard' for her to watch the dancer 'go through a low point.' 'I feel very motherly to her. She needs hugs and she needs love and she needs forgiveness. We're not gonna leave any of our children out in the cold,' the DCC director added. In the finale of America's Sweethearts Season 2, Dayle shared her plans to not continue with the DCC after six years. 'I love you both so much. And I love this organization. And I appreciate you both being there for me through a lot of ups and a lot of downs,' she told her coaches. 'It was a real safe place for me. I'm excited to watch you all from the sidelines and cheer you on.' The dancer continued, 'I think this year I found who I really am. I lost it for sure, was lost in who I really was. There was a long time where I was scared to just not be without dance because that was just me and that was my safe space. But I feel good." Season 2 of America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is now streaming on Netflix.
Cosmopolitan
2 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
A choking ban and ID checks: all the ways porn is changing in 2025 — and what needs to come next
It's a transformative time for pornography. Long gone are the days where explicit sexual content could only be found in the adult section of video stores. Now, porn is freely available at the click of a button — and it's not just limited to dedicated adult sites. Unsuspecting users are exposed to porn on social media platforms like X and Reddit, which are rife with X-rated content (but not so harshly regulated as porn sites). This easy accessibility means that the public are increasingly exposed to it at a younger age. Recent research shows that the average age in the UK that people first see explicit material online is 13. Concerningly, much of this material seems to depict violence, with a 2023 report finding that 79% of 18 to 21-year-olds who'd seen porn online had encountered videos portraying degrading acts, physical aggression, or sexual coercion. The effects of this have been much discussed in pop culture. In 2021, Billie Eilish famously revealed that she started having nightmares after being exposed to 'abusive' pornography from the age of 11. Meanwhile, the Netflix series Adolescence explored the consequences of young people having access to violent content online without the proper critical thinking skills to challenge certain acts, ideas, and attitudes. Beyond porn, young people are also increasingly exposed to non-consensual intimate content via terrifying 'nudify' apps and deepfake technology, which make it possible for any unsuspecting person (usually a woman) to be virtually stripped naked or superimposed into explicit videos and photos. All of this has led to a growing backlash against sexual content online — and a call for legislators to crack down on it. We can already see this happening in other counties. In Sweden, for example, live cam shows and custom-made pornographic content were banned last month. In the US, in light of age verification laws being introduced in certain US states (which critics say is a violation of privacy and a data risk), Pornhub is blocked in 17 states. Then, in May, a new bill was introduced aiming to criminalise pornography at a federal level, meaning, if passed, it could be banned across the whole of the US. And now the UK is following suit. It was already planned that from July, websites hosting pornographic content will have to run ID checks on users, but yesterday [18th June] it was confirmed that pornography depicting acts of strangulation will be made illegal in the UK, as per a government announcement. The amendment will be made to the Crime and Policing Bill — though there isn't yet a date for its implementation. The government's decision was made following an Independent Porn Review which found that media sources, including pornography, have 'effectively established choking as a 'sexual norm', and a belief that choking a partner during sex is 'safe''. This is, obviously, worrying, and it's encouraging that the government is trying to tackle the rise of non-consensual choking, which mostly affects women and girls. It's a move that's been welcomed by safety campaigners and women's charities alike, and generally viewed as a step in the right direction. But will these measures really work? Amid the dire state of sex education in the UK, is this the right focus? And, as right wing conservatism grows, is a crackdown on sexual expression actually moving us forward? Data shows sexual strangulation has been on the rise in recent years, and it seems explicit online depictions of it have contributed to this, particularly among young people. A recent survey by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS) found that it's most common among those aged 16 to 34, with 35% of respondents saying they've been choked during sex, while 17% said it had happened without their consent. 'I've experienced choking from casual sex partners before, and not always with my consent,' 35-year-old Bryony* tells Cosmopolitan UK. 'I was having sex once with a hook-up from Hinge and he suddenly grabbed my throat. I was so shocked by it that I froze — I would have struggled to talk with his tight grip anyway. He realised by my facial expression that I was taken aback and soon let go. It was a frightening experience.' Erotic asphyxiation is a genuine sexual kink/fetish, but seems to be increasingly misunderstood and mispracticed by those who seemingly don't know what they're doing. It has also sinisterly been used as a defence in many murder trials, including the harrowing case of Grace Milane, whose killer claimed she had died as a result of choking during consensual sex. Following this trial, the 'rough sex gone wrong' defence was banned in the UK — a key step in acknowledging that women cannot consent to their own harm or murder. As mentioned, women's groups have voiced their support for the criminalisation of choking porn, with Andrea Simon, the director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, saying in a press release: 'Women cannot consent to the long-term harm [strangulation] can cause, including impaired cognitive functioning and memory. Its widespread portrayal in porn is fuelling dangerous behaviours, particularly among young people.' The availability of this kind of violent porn, and porn more broadly, is why the government is introducing its age verification laws next month, as part of the Online Safety Bill, which will force any websites or platforms (presumably including social media sites) that allow pornography to introduce effective age checks. This may include users providing their driver's license or passport, credit card details, or even agreeing to facial age estimation technology. It's unclear how exactly this will work in practice, and whether sites like Pornhub will simply block access in the UK, as they have done in the US, in light of the potential privacy risks. In a statement, digital rights campaigners Open Rights Group warned: 'The roll-out of age verification is likely to create new cybersecurity risks. This could take the form of more scam porn sites that will trick users into handing over personal data to 'verify their age'.' Although the ban is well-intentioned, it's easy to announce something but much harder to implement it in practice. 'In one regard, yes, it's a good idea to [stop people seeing] anything that is clearly harmful to women. But simply banning it isn't going to solve the problem,' says Marcus Johnstone, a criminal defence solicitor at PCD Solicitors. For one, Johnstone continues, 'you can ban lawful porn sites depicting non-fatal strangulation, but then what happens? It goes underground'. There's also the issue of who the liability falls to. 'Are they criminalising the makers, watchers, possessors of the image, [or the platforms that host them]? None of that is very clear,' adds Sean Caulfield, a partner in the crime team at Hodge Jones & Allen. There's no denying that something needs to be done about rising misogyny and violence against women and girls, including non-consensual choking. But what young people really need is comprehensive sex education, including porn literacy. Banning choking porn doesn't seek to tackle the true crux of the problem. Instead, we should be ensuring that all content young people can access on the internet is safe, and that the porn they are being exposed to is appropriately regulated. 'It's clear we need far more effective legislation to ensure online safety,' says Susie McDonald, the CEO of Tender, a charity that educates on healthy relationships. 'But equally critical is the need for all children and young people to access high quality relationships education so they can understand the key tenets of healthy relationships like consent and respect — and recognise the early warning signs of abuse. 'Right now, too many simply don't have access to this vital education,' she continues. 'RSHE needs to play a key role in keeping our young people safe, online and in the real world. We have a responsibility to protect all children as early as possible.' Implementing parameters of safety around online porn, especially for impressionable young people, is key — but so is ensuring they have a full understanding of things like consent, to be able to make appropriate decisions in their own personal lives. 'Adults need to be trusted to make adult choices, but that only works if they're equipped with context and critical thinking skills,' agrees Madelaine Thomas, senior policy advisor at the Digital Intimacy Coalition. 'Porn is entertainment, not education. It is fiction and should be enjoyed as such, not as an instructional guide. Porn shouldn't be used to educate unless it explicitly labels itself as such. The key is in educating that porn is fiction and filling the gap in education to teach so that they don't look to fiction as fact.' For some, strangulation kinks are genuine, and there will be people in consenting sexual relationships who choose to engage in such acts. There is already a law banning porn depicting graphic strangulation, and incoming age verification laws that should, in theory, prevent under 18s from viewing pornography of any kind. Depictions of strangulation shouldn't be freely accessible online, but the problem goes far beyond the porn young people are watching. We urgently need comprehensive sex education, media and porn literacy, and to encourage open, judgment-free conversations about sex, relationships, and consent. There also needs to be more funding for services that work to prevent violence against women and girls, a justice system that actually achieves justice for victims of sexual violence, and education that seeks to address the rise in misogyny among young people — and the real world effects that it has.
