Tiny Pretty Things Season 1 Review: Ballet Drama Attempts to Stay On Pointe, But Loses Its Balance

Ballet narratives endure and very well done ones can soar high. Tiny Pretty Things Season 1 attempts to do just that giving an audience a binge-able 10-episode first season, but ultimately, it pulls the viewer in so many directions that it becomes easy to lose the thread. 

There is a lot to admire about Tiny Pretty Things. As a ballet story, it does give the audience lots of beautiful cinematic sequences that captivate their attention and it has a lot of really important conversations about the world of ballet and about the world in general. 

The writing is tight, the characters are fleshed out, and the issues raised feel real and relevant, but while it does a lot of things well, it sometimes misses moments where it could milk the drama for all it’s worth.

From the very beginning, Tiny Pretty Things sets up thinking we’re in for a tale of suspense. A star dancer, Cassie Shore, has fallen off the roof, but was it a fall? No one seems to know for sure. While she delivers commentary from her hospital bed, the rest of her classmates are jockeying for a spot in the showcase.

In the backdrop, the expansive cast tells stories of addiction, race, sexuality, and prejudice. Each of these subplots is important, but they’re condensed into such succinct spaces, that it can be exhausting keeping track of each character.

And while we’re keeping track of the pieces on the board, the narrative of who pushed Cassie seems to take a backseat. In fact, when you pull back, Cassie feels like an afterthought.

Although she appears in flashbacks, and the people at the Archer School of Ballet know her, no one is interested in finding out what happened. When Cassie wakes up, it feels anti-climatic. It’s only when she tells Neveah that people have been coming to her hospital bed, confessing their secrets, that it feels like the stakes are raised. 

Outside of Cassie, Tiny Pretty Things wants to interrogate many issues related to society in and outside of the dance world. Bette’s addiction to prescription pain killers is one example of an issue that spreads out of the Archer School and can have broader implications.

Shane’s dating and love life feel relatable on several levels. June’s desire to pursue her dreams despite what her mother may think also feels like a universal theme for the intended audience. Neveah’s family history and experience with the police feels especially timely right now.

The series also leans into the self-esteem and body image issues we’ve seen time and time again, diving deep into the characters’ minds with grotesque vignettes of pain and agony.

This type of identity, body horror, and search for perfection are so often touched on in ballet stories like Black Swan and Center Stage, but Tiny Pretty Things take differed in how it leaned into the horror. In these moments the series allowed the character to confront their deepest insecurities and issues, and let us get to know them a little more. 

But it pulled back too soon. 

Many shows attempt to give an ensemble cast material to work with, but there are so many dancers on this stage that it’s sometimes hard to know what to pay attention to. 

The strongest thread amongst all the student plotlines is June’s. Her determination to pursue dance to the point of emancipation and finding her own job is compelling, but it’s even more relevant when you consider what happens at her job.

The sexual assault storylines that follow June and her friends are another relevant plotline applicable both in and outside of dance that could have been lost if it wasn’t for the demonstration the students make on the last night of Ripper. 

When they choose to intercept the music with the audio recording that implicates Monique Dubois they take a stand. They call out the person in power and attempt to flip the narrative, and I think we can all agree that Monique Dubois definitely deserves what she gets in the end. 

The rest of the cast have narratives that speak to the original audience of the book by Sonia Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. The book is told from multiple perspectives, each bringing a unique and evocative voice to the world of ballet.

It was this unique perspective that earned the book a huge following. Tiny Pretty Things does well in keeping this conversation going, but the characters all seem to habit largely separate worlds with little intersections.

The lies and secrets that they keep continue to divide them and lead to no real conversation about anything, dance or otherwise after the first few episodes. If Tiny Pretty Things progresses into a second season, then the show would do well to give the students more chances to collaborate both on and off the dancefloor. 

And let’s be clear: this show deserves a Season 2. It has a lot to say about the world at large and it does it without being preachy. The students at this school are human beings and they are full and fleshed out. That’s a credit to the showrunner, but it could also use a little space to breathe, or at least a few more episodes in the next season’s order. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Tiny Pretty Things has the potential to go the way of many other young adult series where the adults are much more compelling than the kids. Monique, Topher, Archer, and even the bit we see of Bette’s parents are so strongly acted that, despite the fact that so many of them would likely be classified as villains, I want to see more. 
• It’s surreal to see Lauren Holly play the main villain of the season. I remember watching her on NCIS years ago. 
• Shane has such a rich storyline, and I really hope that they continue to explore his blossoming relationship in Season 2. 
• The way Isabel pursues the truth and makes Cassie’s case personal is a sweet subplot, and I really enjoyed her relationship with the dorm mom a lot. 
• I did not see the end coming! Cassie’s return and the death of Ramon is a story that needs to be told, and there is plenty of material both from the books and within the universe, Netflix has created to make it happen.

What did you think of this season of Tiny Pretty Things? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Tiny Pretty Things Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

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