On My Block is the Netflix show currently blowing up the internet and our lives. I’d never watched this show until two Saturdays ago, after hearing everyone talk about the second season’s release, and haven’t stopped since. Needless to say, I clearly understand the hype around this show.

The series takes place in south-central Los Angeles, California, but more specifically an inner city and a neighborhood filled with gang drama. I don’t want you to think this show is all about gangs, though; it follows the lives of a group of friends who enter high school together, and how their lives start to change. Although their friend group is constantly on the rocks because of romances, personal agendas, and simply growing up, they always seem to prevail… so far that is.

The core friend group involves a girl named Monse, who will always stand up for herself and her friends. She’s also quite a schemer – I adore her clever and quick-wit. The rest of the friend group involves a kind-hearted boy named Ruby, a quite anxious and humorous boy named Jamal, and a strong-willed boy named Caesar who is very much a flirt. Caesar and his family have ties to one of the gangs in the neighborhood, which creates major complications in the show.

Not a single episode has a dull moment, and these kids’ lives are never calm. That makes the show move at an exciting, attention-grabbing pace. It also addresses social problems teenagers all over the world face and their everyday effects. The show demonstrates how gangs can make teenagers feel constantly on edge, and how this can domino into other aspects of their lives.

This high stress series is perfect for anyone who wants intense, emotional, and heart-warning entertainment with a teenage twist weaving romance and friendship into it. Although I should warn you be ready to get your heart brown once or twice by the plot as you build an involuntary emotional attachment to this show, it’s definitely worth it!