A Review of ‘The Lake’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Stories that often feature a reconciliation between estranged parents and their children, are handled in a supremely dramatic manner and understandably so. After all, family is something that American culture holds in supremely high regard, so the thought of a family unit being devastated or broken in any capacity is serious business. For it means failure of the family unit America prizes and the serious nature of those stories doesn’t end with their tone. Because they also focus heavily on what went wrong to create the divide in the first place, so that others can easily learn from those mistakes and never let them happen, so the majesty of the family unit can be preserved. But while it is fascinating to know that such stories are designed to examine and teach, there is a draw back to their general design.
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For starters, they’re kind of stuck in the past. Because the family units presented in those tales are often narrow in scope and vision and don’t reflect what the American family unit actually looks in our modern society. Not to mention, they focus on safe concepts that have been poured over often, rather than really having a strong conversation on what really creates divides in families and how potentially to heal them. But thankfully, the storytelling landscape is changing, as audiences continue to demand honesty and depth from their stories and that is allowing for tales such as these to transform and provide viewers and readers with better tales in this vein. In fact, Prime Video is now host to a show that explores such matters in that far more progressive light and that makes The Lake quite the fascinating series.

For this is a tale that introduces us to a father named Justin, who is desperately trying to make amends to his biological daughter, Billie. Whom he handed over to a different set of parents back in the day because Billie was a surprise pregnancy and Justin needed to find himself because of how young he was when this happened. But now that he understands who he is… he feels as though the time is right to reconnect and make things right, so he takes Billie to his old stomping grounds at the lake to make that happen. Which is… quite the unique plot for certain. In large part because it doesn’t feature anything traditional regarding this type of story. Since it is often the child that seeks resolution and runs into a resistant parent, not the other way around and not through such circumstances.

Not to mention, the father figure in this tale, isn’t one-dimensional as is often the case in these stories. For Justin is a supremely well-fleshed out, dynamic character that does indeed know what he’s about and he finds challenges in this story outside of his quest to make peace with his daughter. Since the past waits for him at the lake and he has to face that head on as the story continues along and Billie is quite resistant to his attempts at making peace. Adding depth and conflict to a story that is also… shockingly fun. Because in another surprise twist regarding this type of story, a lot of what happens here is handled in a comedic manner and that’s also quite the pleasant and uplifting surprise, one that is equally as impactful. Because it helps the viewer to process the heavier stuff on screen and never lets the subject matter become overwhelming. 

Plus, this is a series that also features… some quality acting and a big name as well. Since Julia Stiles pops in as Justin’s stepsister Maisy-May and speaking of Justin, Jordan Gavaris does a wonderful job of bringing Justin’s desire to resolve his past in an earnest light and he wonderfully anchored by Madison Shamoun’s dynamic performance as Billie and well, in the end… all of these elements, and the fact that this series is  champion for diversity and representation, make this a worthwhile and delightful watch. Because in addition to being a revolutionary story about family, it is also an engaging and honest story about family. One that features issues that are finally relatable and the best news of all, is that you can watch the The Lake in its entirety right now. For season one of this dynamic new series is streaming now on Prime Video.

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