By Cammie Dutchess, Managing Editor
Netflix series, “Trinkets” follows three young girls who kindle a friendship at their weekly Shoplifting Anonymous meetings. In the first season, the series courses through the trio’s struggles with friendships and relationships. While the second season mainly still focuses on those problems, it also pursues the embrace of their three different identities.
Season two starts just a few days after season one left off, with Elodie, played by Brianna Hildebrand, running away with indie rock-star Sabine, played by Katrina Cunningham. The two seem to keep the same more-than-friends relationship they had started previously in season one, but people may be able to tell that their once romantic connection is starting to dwindle.
Throughout the first episode, Sabine refers to Elodie as her “recent paramour” which rightfully upsets Elodie. While Elodie helps with Sabine’s band’s merchandise, Sabine is off with other friends wooing them with her flirtatious ways. Hurt, Elodie decides to leave Sabine and the band and heads back home to her high school life and family.
Although many viewers may not want to see innocent, quirky Elodie heartbroken, it helps to not only develop her character further, but also helps her develop a sense of who she is and who she wants to be as she continues high school.
Contrasting with the first season, Elodie does not hide behind her shyness and awkwardness. Instead, she embraces her sexuality and is noticeably more confident in herself. This is evident in her most recent relationship with someone she meets in her band class and how she handles herself and her actions during this time.
Another member of the trio, Tabitha, played by Quintessa Swindell, embraces more of her Black identity.
After getting racially profiled at a store for shoplifting, Tabitha starts to realize that people treat others differently depending on the color of their skin. She also starts to notice how this happened to her in the past, but she might not have noticed it as such.
Tabitha discloses to a friend that while she was having dinner with her ex-boyfriend’s family, his brother says to him, “Is it true? Once you go black….”
This makes Tabitha decide to embrace her race in a community where she is subconsciously told to assimilate to another culture. As a first step in doing so, she goes to a Black-owned hair salon where she changes her hairstyle to braids. Today, Black women are told that having braids is unprofessional, so it’s important for people to see women rocking the look to hopefully boost their confidence in the hairstyle.
The final one of the three is Moe, played by Kiana Maderia, who embraces the inner nerd she has that she tried to hide from the world in the previous season.
Moe has always tried to label herself as a mysterious punk-rocker who only dresses in all black and talks back to the teacher. Now, she has stripped that hard-core exterior to show her vulnerable, more nerdy side.
She is now in her school’s robotic club where they build robots to compete with other schools. Moe encourages her friends to go to the competitions, which is something that would have never happened before.
It is exciting to see Moe come out of her shell and break the barriers she has put there prior. Not only can her friends now understand and relate to her more, she is also making new friends in the process.
Their “new identities” don’t hinder the trio’s dynamic. The three of them continue their friendships because they respect how they have all evolved into the people they are destined to be. It’s refreshing to see that their friendship holds strong even when it is challenged.
“Trinkets” teaches viewers to embrace who they really are as a person instead of trying to portray someone else. In the series it is obvious to Elodie, Tabitha and Moe that hiding their identity only makes them hate themselves more. It is only when they become their true selves that they are truly happy.
“Trinkets” is available for streaming on Netflix.
jonesdca17@bonaventure.edu
