HOW CLICKBAIT GOT ME HOOKED

Clickbait is a miniseries I initially tossed aside the first time I came across it. Fast forward to some weeks later, a close friend came back to recommend it. So, I had no choice but to give it a shot. Clickbait is an eight-episode series on Netflix that features a simple plot of a family man, Nick Brewer, who is kidnapped and resurfaces on a social site. He's made to communicate to the viewers that he's going to die when the views of the livestream reach five million views. The premise is as simple as that and I'm here to give you some insights into the show with some of the things that makes it quite unique in my opinion.

Reeling In The Audience With A Familiar Premise But With Twist And Turns

The audience is very familiar with the premise and the concept of Clickbait. The plot is not new. A man is kidnapped and turns up dead when he is found. This sparks a police investigation into the incident. So, what is there to see about this tv series and what makes it different? 

First is the storytelling pattern, it is a non-linear type of storytelling. It is also good to take note that the storytelling is structured around the title of each episode. You have the titles as follows: The Sister, The Detective, The Wife, The Mistress, The Reporter, The Brother, The Son, and The Answer (all the episodes are about fifty minutes long). Each episode with its own significance in reconstructing what led to what and ultimately arriving at the climax by the final episode. The style of storytelling made watching this show feel like untangling a tangled yarn of thread. Also, through these connected episodic character explorations, the director and writer are able to let the audience see what they want them to see at a particular moment as everything unfolded. It gave them the liberty to play with the emotions of the audience through shocking revelations and suspense. 

Trust me, you're going to feel very emotional towards a lot of things in this show. Especially with the characters and some of their actions. In the beginning, you'll probably dislike some characters then grow to love them by the time you're midway through the show. 

Exploring The Unexplored

Most crime dramas don't get to fully explore the subject of grief as Clickbait did and you can't really blame these shows. It's just the way they are structured. For Clickbait to achieve this, it brings the audience close to the reality and life of those who are affected by crimes like murder. Grieve is a very sensitive subject that is hard to put a particular definition on it as to how it's supposed to be done. Even though Clickbait is just eight episodes long, it's able to capture these moments in the lives of the characters affected. We get to see how it affects the immediate family and the extended family. We get to see how their lives and reality is turned on its head with just one bad news. Speaking of news, the way the murder case is set up in Clickbait, the events were fully followed by the media making it a public issue for the family; cranking up the mental frustration and exhaustion they had to deal with.

Clickbait appears to be one of those crime investigation tv shows like CSI. This might still make you wonder and question, so what then makes this show special? Well, it goes deeper than the surface level of most crime dramas. For most crime tv shows, a case is solved in just one episode or two. This unconsciously creates this idea in the audience mind that crimes are easily solved that way or some procedures and protocols are easily done. In reality, it doesn't just take forty-five minutes to solve a crime. Things work differently in the real world. Some crimes might be solved immediately while some might even be shelved till many years later when they have new leads while the family affected is still grieving. Clickbait brings this reality closer to the audience. We get to see an instance of this when the police department has already moved on to another case while the family were still trying to get an answer. The reality of this is just that the department runs on resources and they won't waste so many resources if they are not getting new leads on a case. When new cases show up they have to do what they have to do. 

The Internet, The Media And The Social Media

We live in a day and age where almost everything is all about the internet and social media, and often overlook some of their adverse effects in different areas of our life. Clickbait reminds the audience of some of the dangers associated with these advancements. As much as we fight for privacy online. It is very easy to understand that we can only attempt to make a few things private due to the access and control that we give different applications and social sites. When you watch Clickbait you'll realize how privacy is not so private anymore. 

Another highlight that is worth mentioning in Clickbait is some scary news media practices. Where else do we turn to when we need to hear or find out about the latest information in our community or the global world? I'm sure you know the answer to this. In Clickbait, we get to see some of the ugly sides and practices that are associated with news media. The episode The Reporter, follows Ben, one of the reporters on the story of the murder case. He is the type of reporter willing to do anything to get exclusives information on the murder case even if it meant disregarding other people's privacy, humane feelings and etiquette. To him, people involved in his news story are just stepping stones. He had no form of empathy or sympathy for them. Even when he is called to order by his partner, he was just ready to sell his soul for his career move up the ladder. This alone shows some scary behind the scene activities of media house employees that the general public doesn't see through.

On a closing note, I'll just like to point out a pattern I've noticed with miniseries. They are always well made and well thought out, at least the good ones I've seen which represent virtually the popular ones out there. Like, The Night of (2016), Chernobyl (2019), Watchmen (2019), and When They See Us (2019). Clickbait is not an exception to this and you can add it to this list.