Netflix’s latest new reality TV show feels like something from 30 Rock. You know, how Alec Baldwin’s character, Jack Donaghy, will feature Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) in a shameless new series without a script? That’s the vibe we get from Snowflake Mountain.
Or maybe the folks behind Snowflake Mountain (which just arrived on Netflix on Wednesday, June 22) will simply refer to us as squeamish millennials. It’s hard to say, really.
Just start episode 1, and you’ll see. In succession, Snowflake Mountain introduced its 10 contestants, each more annoying than the previous one. Each proudly proclaims their unique qualifications.
And these traits, if you call them that, seem positioned to annoy everyone involved. No matter your point of view, you’ll find something to annoy you. Maybe that’s the point too.
What is Snowflake Mountain?
Snowflake Mountain, a 10-episode reality TV series comes from two experts in the field: Jo Harcourt-Smith (The Circle) and Cal Turner (Undercover Boss). And it’s all about the annoying young man we meet in an intro that almost feels like a test of your patience.
One party “24/7”, another dropping out of college and another admitting (after being humiliated by his parents) that his first instinct always pushed him to quit what he was trying to do. Others immediately say, “I don’t take life seriously,” before others introduce themselves as “lazy by nature.”
One by one the stereotypes of today’s youth claim that doing housework is above them. And their parents are fed up with these kids, who the show hosts describe as “giant babies”. But since these ‘snowflakes’ seem to be the bane of their parents’ existence, the series tries to do something about it.
Hosts Joel (who likens his career to the film The Hurt Locker) and Matt (a former Army combat engineer) are considered survival experts who bring “snowflakes” to wilderness retreats. The show’s intro features the many tears the contestants will have to shed, and how they’ll both succeed and fail and be perpetually annoying (at least in the eyes of these older millennials).
Netflix’s official description given to the press states that “Snowflake Mountain is a cute and warm-hearted reality show,” but if and when you taste it, you may wonder where the “warm-hearted” part is. (More on that below.)
Oh, and players are trying to win “transformative cash prizes” by living this life without running water, Wi-Fi, and the help of their parents.
What do critics think of Snowflake Mountain?
Unsurprisingly, critics dislike Snowflake Mountain. Series, which does not have Rotten tomatoes (opens in a new tab) score at the time of production for lack of coverage (a sign that Netflix may not be pushing screeners out), has earned all the thumbs up for the most part.
For example, the Stuart Heritage of Security (opens in a new tab) notes that hidden beneath this facade is a series with some emotional depth, as “neither snowflake nor mentor are quite as two-dimensional as they seem,” but sadly “hidden behind the tiresome sheen of the red/blue state division.” And he is too. noted that if the show had been handled with “even a little, kids-of-the-days, God-help-us-if-there’s-a-war, Snowflake Mountain would be a lot more fun to watch.”
On Chicago Sun Times (opens in a new tab)Richard Roeper wrote (in a review rating two stars out of four) that “This is one of the more contrived series of the ever-evolving reality genre, featuring a bunch of contestants who aren’t nearly as exciting as they believe they are.”
For Telegraph (opens in a new tab)Michael Hogan didn’t hit it, writing “Producing this kind of mediocre menu filler, no wonder the streaming service is in trouble. Who’s going to pay £11-plus per month for generic junk they can already get on ITV2? Fewer Mountains of Chips Snow and other Stranger Things. Or I’ll cry and stop like real snowflakes.”
Analysis: Should you watch Snowflake Mountain?
While discussing the series in a private group chat, one of my friends said, “I might as well watch it if I’m honest.” While another said, “I’m curious about car accidents.” I told them both that the opening should be enough to push them away.
Snowflake Mountain doesn’t seem like it was made for either side of the culture war to divide its targets. The left will likely get mad at the caricaturist contestants, and the right will likely roll their eyes at the emotional bonding in the second half of the show. For my money’s sake, if I’m looking for nonsensical new entertainment, Beavis and Butt-Head Do The Universe are right there on Paramount Plus.
Netflix’s top 10 shows lists often feature something that critics hate (the movies 365 Days and God’s Favorite Idiot, for example), so I’m hoping Snowflake Mountain will sit right under Stranger Things this weekend. . But while that feels inevitable, it also seems like a bad indicator of what’s going on for culture these days.
While I find that I really like some of Netflix’s other reality TV fare—Is It Cake? achieves a certain mindless mode perfectly — it doesn’t feel like a show I could recommend to anyone. And it’s coming from someone watching pro wrestling.