Between the mild profanities, underage drinking, and promiscuous
sex, Greek is definitely not your older sibling's Saved by the
Bell: The College Years (You've come a long way, ABC Family!).
This instantly addictive series may not be, as its creators
intended, "the definitive fun college show," but it gets high
marks for its appealing cast, smart writing, and reasonably
clear-eyed portrayal of fraternity and sorority life. Jacob
Zachar stars as Rusty Cartwright, an incoming freshman at Cyprus
Rhodes University. He is a geeky science major and socially
awkward (his first taste of tequila earns him the nickname
"Spitter"). But he is eager to join a fraternity and "have a real
college experience." The soapsuds froth early. His sister, Casey
(Spencer Grammer, Kelsey's daughter) is campus royalty, a junior
with a wealthy and well-connected boyfriend, Evan (Jake
McDorman). She is also "heir to the throne" of her "best of the
best" sorority house. So embarrassed is she by Rusty, she has
never told anyone she had a brother. "You have your world, and I
have mine," she dismisses him early on. But her world is rocked
after Rusty accidentally catches Evan about to cheat on Casey
with Rebecca Logan (Dilshad Vadsaria), a senator's daughter and
highly prized pledge who Casey has been charged to bring in to
the sorority at all costs.
Greek is not just kids behaving badly. What moves this series to
the head of the class is that its characters struggle with doing
the right thing, and as Casey tells Rusty, "sometimes doing the
right thing isn't doing the right thing," adding, "It's shades of
grey from here on out." Greek creates compelling moral dilemmas
and should spark worthwhile family discussions. Should Rusty tell
his sister about Evan and ruin his chance to join Evan's elite
fraternity? Should Casey break up with Evan and risk her social
standing? Greek is all about acceptance and how friends can
become like an extended family. Rusty finds his at a rowdy Animal
House-like frat headed by Cappie (Scott Foster), Casey's less
reputable former boyfriend. Though Rusty may be lame, he
procls, "he'd be fun to corrupt and bring to the dark side."
How Rusty wrestles with his ideals and reconnects with Casey is
at the heart of this auspicious season. Greek does traffic in
stereotypes, but most of the characters emerge as fully
dimensional, including Evan, less of a jerk and more soulful than
one would expect, and Dale (Clark Duke), Rusty's "fundamentalist
hick" roommate, who becomes less of an easy punch line as the
season progresses. For a show that at one point gives a shout-out
to Gilmore Girls, Greek's own pop-culture references (from The
Matrix and Monty Python to Grey's Anatomy) are spot-on. Beyond
that, the character-based writing is well observed. After a first
date, a euphoric Rusty calls it the best night of life, adding,
"Even better than the time they announced Pluto wasn't a planet.
I hated Pluto." With one year under its belt, you'll want to
pledge yourself to Greek. --Donald Liebenson
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