We — the people who still believe 2010 was less than ten years ago — have begged for a show like Overcompensating to come and put us out of our misery. We grew up in the golden age of ranchy coming-of-age stories, from Glee to Awkward to Scream Queens. We laughed through the pain, fueled by teenage angst and love triangles. We digested camp and inappropriate age gaps like it was nothing.
And we have been chasing that high ever since.
Just when it seems adulthood would be filled with bleak HBO “comedies,” Prime Video’s college comedy series from A24 (a truly wild combination) resurrects what some believed was a dead art form. Overcompensating’s ambition tramples Sex Lives of College Girls‘ freshly dug grave to deliver a raunchy, cringeworthy mess of a show with tight bods and even tighter storytelling.
We prayed for times like these, and in the holy hellish year of 2025, we got them — in the form of some truly pathetic and horny teenagers learning and failing to navigate college together. Hallelujah!
From the moment this show arrives on campus, we are captivated by Benny (Benito Skinner) and Carmen’s (Wally Baram) dueling, often complex narratives.
These are two freshmen desperate to fit in and entirely too confused about why pretending to be someone they’re not isn’t working out. Worst of all, they cling to each other for romantic support, fumbling their way to the conclusion that they are better off as platonic soulmates. This endearing friendship is built on a foundation of trauma bonding, Glee references, and subtle gestures of moral support.
As long as the series keeps the core support system between these two at its heart, there isn’t a wildly inappropriate line it can’t cross.
The pilot episode is a powerful first entry, ambushing us with a wave of obnoxious, fun personalities that click together effortlessly in this puzzle of sexual angst. The second episode doubles down on that borderline campy toxic masculinity, while secretly hiding a strong foundation of story threads underneath.
It helps that Overcompensating understands the demographic it is tapping into, with social media just beginning to rear its ugly head and fashion that emulates what made the early 2010s so chaotic. It also expertly acknowledges our collective obsession with learning to rap all the lyrics to “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj. This show also seems to accomplish the impossible by recreating the quintessential form of the college frat boy and wannabe DJs. Having a group of boys drink all the alcohol and rap at you was a formative experience for many a Millennial and Gen Z, unfortunately.
From the total lack of care for a classroom setting to a revolving door of staple college parties, Overcompensating highlights the worst of its ensemble under the sweaty fluorescent lights of a drunk night out. Then expertly spends the next episode organizing an apology tour that often makes even the most vile of the frat-mongers seem redeemable.
These characters aren’t always likeable, but they are vulnerable and honest, which makes connecting with and even rooting for them easy. We walk away with a desire to see each of these students learn to become better people. The path to redeeming their ugliest tendencies seems so clear, and future seasons are very much needed to explore the potential of George (Owen Thiele) and Benny’s friendship, as well as Peter’s (Adam DiMarco), who has to prioritize real friendships over status.
The potential for so much more with each other as a family of misfits is enough to hurt your heart.
Grace (Mary Beth Barone) is the ground floor of that movement, starting out as the vapid, cold antagonist of this season before slowly unravelling her authentic self to the audience with a killer Alice Cullen costume and finally reuniting with her old best friend back over a “Where the hell have you been, loca?” quote no less. Grace proves that this series can be a compelling character study, even when embracing unredemptive storylines.
We will cheer on their wrongs as long as they let those walls down and show us their desire to be loved. And there are a lot of wrongs to swallow, that’s for sure.
Cushioning this rather profound character work is a show that is having so much fun.
From the traditional Halloween episode to recurring jokes about a child incel and a constipated frat boy, there’s plenty of silly humour to be had. The show does embrace a pretty brutal satirical comedy at points, but always with a sideways glance at the camera technique to acknowledge it is aware of how horribly unprogressive these youths are in the face of diversity.
Devoting an entire episode to a girl struggling to write a memorial post on her brother’s profile on the anniversary of his death is so sickeningly on the pulse of the 2010s experience. The constant echoing chants of “No Homo” an unearthed relic of darker times. This show excavates the ruins of shows like Degrassi, which attempted to prioritize supporting women forward, LGBTQ+ storylines, with many painful mistakes. It expertly dances on the grave of our terribly unwoke humiliations with brutal earnestness and hilarious side characters like Carmen’s scene-stealing roommate Hailee.
Overcompensating doesn’t shy away from following in the footsteps of satirical bloodbaths like Scream Queens, and crossing the line with its insufferable stereotyping. However, it always finds ways to make it up to us with authentic storytelling. There is no flunking out after the first semester for this show. This comedy had better go all the way to graduation.
This one was indeed for the boys with the booming system, and the Twi-Hards with unresolved high school trauma.
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Season 1 of Overcompensating is streaming on Prime Video.
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