Personal Review: "Adolescence" – A Father's Gaze, Between Love and Heartbreak

I don't know if the creators of Adolescence were ever parents. Or if, when writing those sharp dialogues and those scenes of domestic chaos, they remembered the weight of carrying a heart that beats outside their own body. Because this series isn't just about rebellious kids or incompetent parents; it's about the vertigo of loving someone who, by natural law, must move away from you to exist.

My children aren't TV characters, but watching this series, I recognize the gestures: the slammed door that echoes like a lament, the silence that hurts more than a scream, the eyes that seek the world while my hands remain anchored to their backs, fearing the day they no longer need me to hold them. The series nails it when it shows that paradox: we raise beings for freedom, but we cling to the illusion of control.

But there's something that hurts more than the parents' mistakes on screen: the caricature of adults as villains or clowns. Where's our vulnerability? The fear that they'll inherit our voids? The sleepless nights recalculating every "no" and every "yes"? The teenagers in Adolescence shout their truths with raw poetry, but we're left with muteness. As if love that doesn't know how to express itself with TikTok filters were less valid.

And yet... there's a scene in the fourth episode. The father, played by a supporting actor, finds his daughter's diary. He doesn't read it. He returns it to its hiding place with trembling hands. That gesture broke me in two. Because fatherhood isn't a heroic monologue, it's learning to let go of the pages you'll never read.

I hope the jury sees beyond the teen drama. I hope they see the father's cry, who, between lights and cameras, remains real: the one who screams for help to understand, to make fewer mistakes, to stay standing when love looks too much like grief.

Because in the end, Adolescence isn't a series about growing up. It's a series about letting go. And no one prepared us for that.

Final Message: A Call to Parents

Parents, watch Adolescence. Not to judge your kids, or yourselves, but to remember that this messy, painful, beautiful journey isn’t meant to be walked alone. This show isn’t a mirror for pointing out mistakes—it’s a window to understanding that love, sometimes, isn’t enough. You have to learn to listen without always having answers, to hold on without smothering, to let go without giving up.

To the kids: Watch it too. Not to fuel your arguments, but to see that behind every clumsy lecture, every awkward silence, or every repeated piece of advice, there’s a heart that beats for you—even when it doesn’t know how to say it.

Because in the end, *Adolescence* isn’t a show about who’s right. It’s about the bridge—cracked and imperfect—that we keep building between two shores.

Two Unforgettable Quotes from the Show:

1. I don’t need you to understand me… just don’t stop trying." — Luis, the father, in Episode 5.
2. "Growing up hurts. But it hurts even more to watch someone grow up and wonder if you’re doing enough." — Ana, the mother, in the finale.

Watch this show. Then talk. Because fragile, imperfect, necessary conversation is the only thing that keeps us close.