Crew Girl

Netflix's Crew Girl is an amazing teen story about what happens when life doesn't happen the way it was planned. Teagan, a 16-year-old rower, has to leave her life and everything she knew in Los Angeles and move with her mother to her mom's hometown after her father committed fraud.

Not only does she have to go to a new school where everybody knows about her dad's fraud, but the worst thing for her is that the new prep school doesn't have a girls' rowing team and she has to join the boys' team to be able to train.

The story gives us everything we expect from a Hollywood teen drama: a love triangle, the rich spoiled boy, the poor scholarship boy, and Teagan in between them with all her own drama. It's not a story where something unexpected happens, it's not a story where you are paralyzed by it, but it gives good vibes and it is an amazing show to binge-watch with your teenager.

You can talk about what to do and how not to lose yourself when life goes differently than expected, and ask your teen if they would be able to be as positive and strong as Teagan was.

What your family expects from you is another great thing to talk about, and you can ask your teen if they ever felt hidden pressure coming from you or other members of the family and how they would react to that. If this is a topic worth talking about in your family, you can ask them if they would ever go as far as Josh did or what they would do instead.

And I think Josh's dad's reaction is definitely something you should talk about as well. Josh thought that his dad would be very upset and he didn't want to disappoint him. But the dad showed that Josh's health is more important to him than money and power, and you can ask your teen if they expected such a reaction. And you can tell them that sometimes, maybe because of wrong impressions or mostly because of a lack of communication, we expect our family to expect differently and that honest communication can help with that.

Another topic could be what your teen would feel if one of their parents needs to date again. Teagan's mom is dating her coach, which is another level of awkward for a teenager and is mostly not what will happen in real life. But if you are a single parent, you can ask your teen how they would feel if you wanted to date again and if they want to know about it, or if they prefer to have some rules for your household to make it easier for them.

You can talk about Cam and his dad's financial problems and the pressure a teenager must feel when they have to take care of their family. Cam's dad didn't want to be a burden to Cam, which I love and which is correct in my point of view. Our kids should not have to bear the burden of our financial struggles. At the same time, it is so amazing to see what Cam would give up for his father, and you can ask your teen if they ever felt financial pressure in the family and how they would handle it in their own family as a parent.

And of course you have to talk about the love triangle between Cam, Josh, and Teagan, and which team you are on. You can ask your teen if they would act the way Cam, Josh and Teagan act or what they would do differently.

For me, Netflix's Crew Girl is a great watch that opens up real, valuable conversations with your middel schooler.