Between is a Canadian science fiction drama television series which debuted May 21, 2015 on Citytv. Created by Michael McGowan, the series stars Jennette McCurdy as Wiley Day, a pregnant teenage daughter of a minister living in the small town of Pretty Lake, which is coping with a mysterious disease that has killed everybody over age 22. The series is a co-production between Citytv and Netflix, which distributes the series outside Canada as a Netflix Original Series. The series was renewed for a second season on July 8, 2015, which premiered on June 30, 2016. Though the series was never officially cancelled, no news has been released about the series since the last episode of the second season aired on August 4, 2016.
Plot
Between is the story of a small town called Pretty Lake and surrounding rural area under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody aged 22 and older. The series also explores numerous themes: the power vacuum that results when the government quarantines a 10 square mile zone and leaves the inhabitants to fend for themselves; the desire of inhabitants to escape, ignoring that they will spread the deadly disease to the entire planet; and the effect of hormonal teenaged/young adult angst becoming the guiding force for an entire community.
The series was originally set for a season of six one-hour episodes, co-produced and financed by Citytv and Netflix as part of a collaboration deal. The series represents the first major television solo starring role for McCurdy. Production of season 1 began on October 20, 2014. Citytv aired an exclusive preview of the series during their broadcast of the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and the series premiered on May 21, 2015. Jesse Carere was promoted to managing director for season 2. Production of season 2 began in January 2016, with six one-hour episodes like the first season. The series shot through March 11, 2016, with two new characters, Lium and Renee.
Web series
''Between the Lines''
As an accompaniment to the show, a web series called Between the Lines has been released, featuring eight two-minute webisodes. The web series follows the character Amanda as she interviews students at Pretty Lake High as an assignment for the school's yearbook. The series begins pre-outbreak, and continues throughout the quarantine and ensuing chaos, taking an in-depth look at a different character each week. The first installment of the web series was posted on May 22, 2015, with new webisodes made available every week on CityTV.com, after each TV episode broadcasts. The season 2 edition of the web series, a six-part video diary kept by Wiley and Adam, became available on June 23, 2016.
''Inside Between''
In addition, season 2 includes an after-show web component called Inside Between, hosted by Jim Watson and streaming live on CityTV.com's Between page, directly following each TV episode's initial broadcast on City.
Broadcast
Per the collaboration deal, the series airs terrestrially on City, and streams on Shomi in Canada and Netflix internationally. It is the first series originating from Canada to air on Netflix from its inception. Episodes air on a week by week basis on City, on Thursdays at 8 pm Eastern Time. During season 1, they were later added on week by week basis on Netflix, for international viewing at 11:30 pm Eastern. Season 1 was added to Netflix's Canadian service one year after its Shomi debut. For season 2, all six episodes were released on Netflix on July 1, 2016, outside Canada.
Ratings
Betweens season 1 ratings on Citytv pulled a combined 3.2 million viewers, reaching roughly 10% of the Canadian population. The show performed at 31% in the desirable 18–34 age demographic, significantly above the channel average of 19% for the demographic.
Reception
Brian Lowry of Variety called Between "an utterly ho-hum addition to Netflix's original lineup". Keith Uhlich of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "It's the end of the world as they know it, and viewers won't care." Mike Hale of The New York Times called it a "familiar ensemble soap opera with conspiracy-theory embroidery". Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The town is lovely, the premise solid if overfamiliar, but the script lacks both depth and tension, and McCurdy is one of the few cast members who can act." Kevin P. Sullivan of Entertainment Weekly rated it C− and criticized the show's writing. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club rated it C+ and wrote that the series lacks a compelling hook.
