Just finished watching the season. Sorry for the delay. I'll start with my own general observations.

I had difficulty getting into it for the first half. It started off rougher than it ended. Later episodes went down easier. But maybe I was just getting used to the style over time. It definitely did not feel like SBTB most of the time. That threw me off for a while and eventually I had to start changing my expectations to enjoy it. There are rare instances where it kinda captured the slapstick vibe of the original, like the phone episode with the student chaos in the hallway. In general the plots didn't feel as serious, although maybe it was just missing those sad music cues and audience reactions which are common in sitcoms with laugh tracks, which is how the original was done. Either way I hope they put in some more serious plotlines in the second season. I feel like they had to insert some humor into practically everything, which may have taken away from the emotional effect of the scenes. But from what I can tell, those more serious scenes were just not present. I know, this is SBTB and that really wasn't it's specialty, but still. Something was missing. Lol maybe I needed those laugh tracks after all..

Many people did not know this, but the guy who plays Zack Morris is actually half-Asian (Indonesian.) If anyone is interested in the old Saved by the Bell, I highly recommend Behind the Bell by: Dustin Diamond

Surprises me every time I hear that. He really doesn't look like it.

I just searched up Dustin Diamond and found out that he recently died of lung cancer. Rest in Peace, Screech..

Except they've all been dumbed down and turned into cartoonish characters, which yes, they already were in the original show, but it's even more here.

Yep, that's one aspect I hope they change for many of the characters. The show does not need more Flanderization.

Daisy is the main character, she is a Latina, and basically reads like a Marysue self-insert with an outspoken activist bent.

Being a Mary Sue, I find it hard to recall much about her story. I wish she was more of a sociopath like Zack was. I know Mack is there, but a female 'Zack' main character doing crazy sh*t would've been great. Missed opportunity.

Devante was actually a pretty good character, but I felt like the writers really were too scared to do much with him because RACE STUFF IS SCARY.

Yeah. Maybe some more character development from him for the second season?

There is a lot of RACE STUFF involved, and a lot of RICH WHITE PEOPLE PRIVILIGE STUFF and it's really cringe. Like, it's nice that they are trying to address race-stuff but... Like, I'm not black, white or latino, so as an outsider, I'm just staring at this like... It felt very patronizing to me. Maybe it will give the viewers something to think about, I guess...

Same; It was lain on pretty thick. Couldn't relate. A good example of that cringe of that part in the first episode with Whitelady/Whitewoman or whatever her name is...

He is meant to be a mean girl, who reforms and becomes a nice girl who learns empathy.

I feel like that character development really should've taken course over a longer span of the show.

Back to Jazz Jennings Lexi. Since I'm betting you will not waste 5 hours of your life watching this, I will say that in the last episode he and Jamie got together and of course the 'You have a penis, now what?' was never addressed. Him being a "Girl" is completely normalized and no one comments on it. Which, of course they don't, it's Saved By The Bell.

They went all in at portraying Lexi as a Straight girl. A straight girl who was the longtime childhood friend of the Football Jock who mainly built his abs and body up because he was scared cause she was so mean before. Not only is that very contradictory but it is well established by Jessie that Jamie has always been very big and really someone Lexi's size would've been no match for him. Idk, Lexi's whole plot doesn't quite work well. Too many unaddressed elephants in the room.

This isn't the MTF trans we are used to seeing on the internet, this is Hollywood Trans - what clueless Hollywood people think MTF trans is, a gay guy who is so flaming gay that like a phoenix he bursts into flames and a female pornstar pops out of the ashes. Except that this character is an UNDERAGE CHILD high school sophomore. So it was really uncomfortable to watch.

Most MtF are AGP, while Lexi is HSTS. Not saying HSTS males will or should look like that, especially someone who's underage. But since AGP are much more numerous and aggressive online, their overall 'impression' will dominate the internet, and that will differ quite a bit from any accurate HSTS depiction in media anyway. I get the feeling TV shows are not gonna be putting an AGP transbian teen on anytime soon. But then again I don't watch that much TV anyway so that may have already happened without me knowing.

That was the end of the original comment. Since then, I've found out that Josie Totah, the trans person who plays Lexi was actually involved in production and had a hand in creating the Lexi character, which makes my last paragraph all the more WTF-ish.

Really? I wonder if that's really the character he wanted..

I have to admit, now that the show has had time to simmer in my mind, I did like it somewhat, I'd recommend it to fans of the old show who have 5 hours to waste. There was one scene that I found particularly hilarious. There is a house party, and one of the characters, who has obviously been watching way too much Euphoria, shows up high wearing a sort of sexy-denim-party-butterfly outfit, and gets locked in a closet for her own safety. (you can see her near the end of the above clip.) I'm not explaining it right, but I was laughing my ass off through the whole thing.

Oh boy, that scene made no sense to me when I watched it. But then again I knew nothing about Euphoria until now. Kinda funny with the context.

There were funny and/or weird bits like:

-The Principal suddenly inserting himself into SBTB history. Whaddya know? I guess he was always there at Bayside!

-That horrible painting of Jamie

-Mack's ominous ringtone

-Screech on the ISS

-What is a Feelings Helmet?

-Old guys at the Max... after Lexi?...

-Slater's Party Dance!

-Whenever the old music kicks in

-Zack's grand entrance leading to major disappointment.

-Slater sitting backwards in his chair and Devante noting how he's never actually seen anyone do that before