Sterling Point and What’s Making Us Happy

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour explores the new Amazon Prime series 'Sterling Point,' a coming-of-age drama centered on a teen girl uncovering family secrets after inheriting a remote Canadian estate. Hosts

Key takeaways

• Sterling Point excels in portraying the inner lives of young women with authenticity and emotional nuance.
• Despite its fast pace and dense plot, the show succeeds in creating compelling character arcs and memorable moments.

Main topics

• Sterling Point TV series review
• Coming-of-age storytelling in YA dramas

Notable quotes

I was just mashing that play next episode button the way I didn't with The Summer I Turned Pretty.

It's like Greta Gerwig directing Saoirse Ronan and Lady Bird — Megan Park brings something so natural to her younger actors.

Conclusion

While 'Sterling Point' occasionally rushes through its narrative, the series stands out for

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and the public backlash is growing. This week on Here and Now Anytime, Arizona's Attorney General on why she is reviewing the state's policy on AI-powered cameras from Flock. And New York City Public Schools is banning AI for kids until they enter high school. Can you really keep AI out of the ABCs? Find out on Here and Now Anytime on the NPR app or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You are listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour, the podcast that keeps you plugged in to the latest, greatest, and sometimes not so greatest in pop culture. Now, if you love pop culture and you're not following the show yet, we are recommending that you fix that post-haste by following Pop Culture Happy Hour on your favorite podcast app. At the core of this show, I was just mashing that play next episode button the way I didn't with The Summer I Turned Pretty. Speaker 1 (0:56) A mysterious inheritance, a teen love triangle, secrets and lies that echo across generations. The TV drama Sterling Point has it all, so it's no surprise that it's already become a word-of-mouth sensation. I'm Stephen Thompson. Joining me today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is NPR music reporter Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento. Hey, Isabella. Hi, Stephen. Thanks for having me. It is a pleasure. Also with us is former host of Slate's Internet Culture Podcast, ICYMI, and former Pop Culture Happy Hour producer, Candice Lim. Hey, Candice. Hello. So great to see you again. So the first... Speaker 1 (1:33) Eight-episode season of Sterling Point dropped on Amazon Prime about a month ago, and it's been a major hit ever since. In its first episode, we meet a high-strung teenager named Annie, she's played by Ella Rubin, and her twin brother. They've been raised in New York by their single dad, played by Jay Duplass. They soon learn that the kids have inherited a remote Canadian tourist destination from their estranged grandfather, and that revelation leads Annie to head to Canada in search of more information about her family. Speaker 1 (2:03) It turns out there are many secrets to unpack as Annie makes new friends, gets pulled into a love triangle, connects with the sister she didn't know she had, and imagines the life and family she'd been denied. Sterling Point was created by Megan Park. Her film My Old Ass beautifully covered similar coming-of-age terrain. Sterling Point is streaming now on Prime Video, and we should note that Amazon supports NPR and pays to distribute some of our content. Candice Lim, I'm going to start with you. Speaker 1 (2:32) What'd you think of Sterling Point? Oh, man. I was really excited for this show because I really loved my old ass Megan Park's movie. Oh, me too. That's the one with Aubrey Plaza, Maisie Stella. Maisie, who, by the way, currently in The End of Oak Street playing Anne Hathaway's daughter. She is. Who else played Anne Hathaway's daughter? Ella Rubin in The Idea of You. You know who was born to play Anne Hathaway's daughter? Other than the people who were actually born to Anne Hathaway? Ella Rubin. Exactly. Anyway, my old ass ripped me to shreds. It also took place in Muskoka. Speaker 1 (3:07) kind of the hottest place of the year, I must say. And it had very similar themes of, like, queerness and coming of age and, like, leaving the only place you've ever known, death, grief, the big five. But I do think that film is very similar to this show. I think it is very successful in doing that. I really think that Megan Park has, like, a really strong voice. I see her as this YA Greta Gerwig because she came from, like, the secret life of the American teenager and now she's pivoted to directing and writing and she just brings Speaker 1 (3:36) out something like so natural within her younger actors. It's very like Greta directing Saoirse Ronan and Lady Bird. And I think it works and it translates. And I did really endear myself to this show. Some may say it has too much, which it does. But in that way, it catches all and it really can appeal to you in any format. So I love. All right. How about you, Issa? Well, I will say I'm also team Megan Park. I loved My Old Ass. I agree with everything you guys just said about that film. And I think here she manages to take so many of those similar approaches to writing teen girl characters that feel relatable but complicated and flawed and are just wonderful to watch and follow. I felt like I was really, really captivated, particularly by the characters of Annie and Ramona and their relationship to each other. Speaker 1 (4:25) I don't think we get to see stories of sisterhood and of, you know, female friendship developed quite this way very often in YA shows. And that was really the big hook for me. I am one of those people who think there was maybe a lot going on here, maybe a bit too much, but I'm excited for the second season. And overall, I think it was a really fun viewing experience. Yeah. And we should note, Stirling Point has been renewed for a second season. It has been a hit. But Isa alluded to my one issue with a show that I really otherwise loved, which is this show is doing in eight episodes what I think it really wanted to do in 13. And as such, it feels like it's rushing through some of these revelations. It is doing kind of two or three seasons worth of work in one season. And as such, characters' motivations can feel like they're shifting at kind of a breakneck speed. Speaker 1 (5:21) At the same time, boy, first of all, obviously, I am also part of the chorus of people who loved Megan Park's work in My Old Ass. That film is such a gift. If you have not seen it, if you're interested in this show and you haven't seen it, like, run, don't walk to catch up with it. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous movie. And like that movie, this show has such an innate understanding of and interest in the inner lives of young women. And it really... gets at that in beautiful ways. It lets a lot of these relationships breathe. I think because of how rushed it feels, because it's kind of breaknecking, particularly through the last couple episodes of the season, I think there are some kind of... Speaker 1 (6:05) wings of this cast that go a little narratively undernourished. Characters who kind of only exist as devices. I wasn't as captivated by this love triangle as I think the show... You were getting flashbacks to Connie Baby. You said, not again, not again. No, no, this is not the same thing as Connie Baby. Okay, okay. For those who have not seen The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Summer I Turned Pretty is so obsessed with a very stupid love triangle. And I did not care which of these dumb boys she might wind up picking. This