Youth Of The Nation
Episode 2 of We Are The Wave sees Tristan and the misfit group at school begin to grow closer, causing Zazie to face hostility in class. However, she takes a stand and rips Kim’s nose piercing out. As the group stick together, they congratulate Zazie for standing up for herself in the face of relentless bullying. It’s here we learn that Lea used to be one of those bullies and after apologising for her past actions, the group appear to be back on the same page. The next day, Lea talks to Tristan about bringing the group together. After an incident at a burger joint proves how serious he is about societal change, he symbolically throws his outfit at a large placard about German familial values before the group hang out together again. Unfortunately, Tristan’s happy reunion is broken up by a group of Neo-Nazis who show up and start beating him down. Zazie and the others get involved though, eventually leading them to fight off the thugs and save Tristan’s skin. As the kids celebrate their victory, Lea talks to Tristan about Bjorn and her relationship before the others interject, leading to an awkward silence to descend over them. With his time up, Tristan heads out with the others where he reveals he’s a criminal and currently in a young offender’s prison. They’re not deterred by it though and the group hug him goodbye. It’s an emotional moment, one that sees the true extent of the group’s bond. The rest of the group decide to continue their rebellious streak into the night before heading home. Hagen contemplates sending a message to Zazie but changes his mind, while Lea brushes aside her Mum’s questioning and heads to bed. In the morning, Tristan is awoken by the guard and he heads to school, where he finds the others have left a painted message high above reading “We have started a wave”. Zazie arrives to show off her shaved head too, showing her physical transformation to rebellion, while they all formulate a plan for their next demonstration. On their way in though, Tristan steals a phone from one of the girls. We then cut to the weekend where we find the misfits on a plastic protest in the supermarket. Their social media profile explodes too but as Tristan returns to his cell that night, he checks his phone and begins researching Hacke&ABT, a company he clearly has bad blood with. With his plan in place, the group decide on their next target the following day and in the darkness of the camper van, he gathers the team as they prepare for their next demonstration. Boasting another solid episode of characterisation, and chock full of interesting juxtapositions and ideas, We Are The Wave delivers a decent bout of drama here, one that perfectly captures the youthful, rebellious streak of these teenagers. With a cliffhanger ending and a solid foundation to work with, We Are The Wave looks set to explode into action from here on out.
