On My Block Season ONe Review

In the Netflix original series On My Block the audience follows the lives of four teenagers living in the fictional city, Freeridge, where gang violence is rampant and constant conflict for the four protagonists.

In this high school based dramedy (drama-comedy), four best friends Ruby (Jason Genao), Monse (Sierra Capri), Jamal (Brett Gray), and Cesar (Diego Tinoco) try to live normal lives amongst gang violence and the overall struggles of high school for teenagers.

The first season revolves around how Cesar gets involved with the local gang known as the “Santos” because of his brother and gang leader Spooky (Julio Macias). Even though Cesar doesn't want to be affiliated with that kind of a gang lifestyle he is dragged into it and is forced to make hard life choices that will either lead to serious jail time or might even cost him his life.

While Cesar is stuck with being a Santos gang member, his three best friends Monse, Jamal, and Ruby secretly try to work out various ways on how to get Cesar out of the gang environment alive.

To do this, they look for a long forgotten treasure of money from a heist made by previous gang members of the Santos at an old abandoned 80’s roller rink in town known as “RollerWorld.”

While this is all happening our main characters continuously struggle in their own day to day life with school and even problems at home. Ruby for example is struggling at home with the fact that he never gets to sleep in his own room since it is constantly being taken over by relatives that come to live with him and his family. But when his mom invites the daughter of a family friend to come live with them, things start to get difficult for Ruby due to the fact that he is absolutely head over heels for Olivia (Ronni Hawk). Ruby struggles with this unrequited love throughout the series.

As for Monse, she has returned home from a summer away at writing camp and realizes that everyone around her notices something completely different about her and it’s not just the fact that she got her braces off. She is keeping a secret that might end every one of her friendships.

Jamal is mostly a supporting character, but once he finds out about the “RollerWorld” heist, he dedicates himself to finding the money to show that he is so much more than just a supporting character in the eyes of his friends.

The series focuses primarily on Cesar’s struggle with the entrapment of the Santos gang. Even though each character struggles with numerous hardships in their daily lives the show reinforces the power of friendship as these young men and women support each other through hardships and difficulty.

This Netflix series is an effective and touching coming of age story that provides a glimpse of what it’s like to be an underprivilaged teenger in high school who must deal with real world issues and conflicted relationships.