Streaming News: Miss Gossip Girl? Don’t miss this exciting and mysterious series

What is it about?

NYU student Samantha was murdered in Central Park on July 4, 2003. There are no witnesses and very little physical evidence. Attending a friend’s concert at her favorite club, Samantha runs away for a second to find someone, but never comes back.

The investigation opens to solve the mystery of the murder, which turns out to be a common point between a series of mysterious fires, the New York music scene and a wealthy family of real estate developers, overwhelmed by their many secrets.

The series City on Fire airs on Apple TV+ and is available on myCANAL. Episodes watched: 8/8.

who is he with

Even if City on Fire is an ensemble series, it still carries two faces of a new generation of talent from the independent scene: Wyatt Oleff, featured in it and It: Chapter 2, followed by I Am Not Okay With This, and Chase Sui Wonders, seen on Genera+ ion in the series and the movie Bodies Bodies Bodies.

Jemima Kirke (Girls, Sex Education), Nico Tortorella (Scream 4, Young), Ashley Zuckerman (Legacy, Fear Street Trilogy), Omid Abtah (Argo, The Mandalorian) round out the rest of the cast. , Kathleen Munro (FBI) and John Cameron Mitchell (Sandman).

Is it worth checking out?

Do you miss Gossip Girl? Then you should check out the new series from the creative duo Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, also behind Newport Beach. Two screenwriters and producers take us back to the world of New York’s elite and scandals, but this time shaken by an attempted murder.

It all begins when Sam, a young college freshman, finds himself between life and death, shot in the head in Central Park. His aggression will crystallize the fate of several people who are apparently unrelated and will be the key to a thorny mystery.

Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are adapting Garth Risk Holberg’s novel of the same name, but have decided to move the story – which the book says takes place in the 1970s – to a post-9/11 America.

The trauma of the attacks weighs heavily on the city and the characters directly or indirectly affected by these events, many of whom are afraid to return, especially as disturbing fires follow each other in the Big Apple.

If this script choice brings greater dramatic tension, it also allows its creators to find the atmosphere of the 2000s, which they know well and which have already been used in previous series such as Gossip Girl or Newport Beach.

Mixing the nostalgia of the underground music scene – revealed by a well-chosen soundtrack by young people who are already a little melancholic and bored with the elite societies and scandals of New York’s expensive neighborhoods, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage know what. The audience they are targeting.

The City of Fire episodes follow the theme of Sam’s attack investigation, with twists and turns of romance and many twists and turns that will leave you frantic to find out the outcome. Even if, admittedly, the abundance of characters and their lack of depth make it all rather vague and uninspired at times.

The creators were certainly excited by the intensity of the source material, and one feels a certain imbalance in the treatment of the characters, even if the actors do very well – especially Wyatt Olaf, Jemima Kirke, Omid Abtah and Nico Tortorella – and bring so much. As much humanity as possible in their game.

The end result is closer to a beautiful story with a subtle aesthetic and staging that doesn’t fully exploit its themes, while promising, but remains breathless and enjoyable enough to hold attention and that may please Gossip Girl fans.

The first three episodes of City on Fire are available on Apple TV+ (on the platform and via myCANAL). The sequel will be available at the rate of one episode per week.