Blur (Dutch Series)

The series Blur tells the story of a close group of friends formed during high school. But what happens after graduation? As their lives change, so do they, and so do the dynamics between them. Will they let go or stick together? The first season had 8 episodes of 35 min each. It I snot really a gay show, but there is a queer relationship quite prominent in the initial part of the overall story and again later, so I think it qualifies to be reviewed here.

This is the story of Tommy, Tuur, Femke, Rune, Manon, Joren and Julie, a close group of friends that emerged during high school. Their group is called "Pigs". After graduation, as they spread their wings and get to know themselves better, how will the multiple events affect their life and their interactions with others. Manon and Joren are twin brother-sister. Julie is Manon's best friend dating her brother Joren for 4 years. Rune is the gay guy (more like gender fluid , in my opinion) of the group, who is spending more time with his gay friend than this group. But also because he and Joren have secretly been having an affair. Drama unfolds when Jullie finds out about tis and confronts Joren. As a young man, Joren is struggling with his sexuality and thinks maybe he is bi. But he feels he likes both Julie and Rune and for the sake of friendship, he breaks up with both. Only to later realize he loves Rune. But even with Rune, he is very affectionate in private but is not comfortable even holding hands in public which irks Rune.

Amongst others, Tuur is the owner of the bar/club 'BLUR' where this group hangs out all the time. When his parents passed away, he was handed the club. Tuur is a player and has random sex and soon realizes that he is getting very addicted to porn. Rune's best friend in the group is Tommy, an awkward young man, who is not serious about studies and soon gets into a deep spiral of drugs, ODing himself towards the end episode. Manon is trying to keep the group together but it seems that sh sis the only one interested while there are doing their own thing. One such night of loneliness she hooks up with Tuur, and also later finds out that Julie also kissed Tuur after her many fights with then boyfriend Joren. And finally we have Femke. She has just lost her parents who left a big fortune in her name. She is not dealing with grief well and turns to party, drinking and booze with Tommy and Rune. In the process she is also one of the instigators of starting all the fights and misunderstandings in the group because she is always ready to spill other people's secrets. 

Reuniting after their first year of university for an end-of-summer party, they quickly realise how much their lives—and they themselves—have changed. Faced with the dilemma of whether to hold on to their hometown friendships or let them go, they struggle to preserve their long-standing bonds amidst a present filled with secrets, lies, and intrigues. As they attempt to relive the good old days, they must confront the pressures threatening their connections and discover what truly binds them beyond just shared memories. So as you can imagine, there is a lot of drama amongst this group of friends who are discovering themselves. It is not easy for 7 friends from high school to have same friendship dynamic in early 20s. People grow up, wants different things in life, priorities change and all this leads to all kinds of disconnects within the group. There is jealous when it comes to relationship and sex (Joren, Julie, Rune), we see addictions (Tuur for porn and Tommy for drugs), people dealing with grief like Femke and finally the only sane girl in the group Manon, who probably does not have a life outside this group and her time playing video games. She is the only one who realizes that Femke may need help with grief. The things is when you are young, you barely know anything about life and it feels here that this group is thrown into the deep end of things, and for some odd reason, they have no adult to talk to or turn to for advice. We never see any of their parents or adults. It is just not fair to expect these young adults to deal with all kinds of issues they have just by themselves or even as a group. They all hang out in the club Blue, where Tuur is the only one working. I mean he is the cleaner, bartender, bus boy, party planner everything. Come on!! He doesnt even have any staff member, which is weird. 

Overall, even though it was not strictly a gay show, the overall vibe reminded me of SKAM and I enjoyed watching it. Messy adulting shows can sometimes be eye-openers and this one reminded me that thankfully my life was not this messy in my early 20s. (7/10)