'Betas' Review: Pilot Shrewdly Explores Social Media's Grip on Modern Males

Betas is about a group of youthful friends, none of whom could be considered anything close to an alpha male.

They belong to the current generation of young males consumed by first-world problems and living vicariously through computer screens.

This group, however, has come up with a revolutionary new app that could end the mindlessness of communicating through technology. They want to help people connect in real life. This storyline allows Betas to surprise here and there and gives it an interesting dynamic when it comes to the interaction between its characters. 

While the show’s friends struggle to sell their app to an eccentric billionaire (Ed Begley, Jr.), they cope with many of life’s issues from aging in a time when youth is celebrated more than ever to trying to win over girls with a confidence someone could only have these days in a chat room. Sometimes, their biggest challenge is having a conversation with someone that doesn’t involve a smart phone.

When Betas examines how our 21st century culture works, the show is quite charming and original. But the pilot is sometimes crippled by a single fact: its characters belong to the very generation they wish to break free from. I found myself rolling my eyes at the endless dialogue involving phrases like “hashtag” and “obvi.” However, the show can hardly be criticized for presenting youth as they are.

The Amazon pilot can also be a little unsure of where it wants to be as far as its humor goes. Sometimes it seems to be a little too innocent for its own good and other times it is raunchy for the sake of being raunchy. It’s a problem that will be worked out, hopefully, should Betas go to series.

Betas is, at the end of the day, a show worth seeing thanks to its potential to speak to and about the current young generation. The pilot is full of funny moments and one or two touching ones as well. It may not pack the full punch, but Betas certainly has the right ingredients to pull of a unique and worthy story.