Julie and the Phantoms: A lengthy review

SPOILERS AHEAD Holy macaroni, this show is so so spectacular I don't even know where to start. My literal ONLY complaint is the fact that there's not a second season. Okay, that's a lie. I have a few costume critiques, but other than that, I think this show is so well made; the plot, casting, and characters are put together in a way that is so great. I genuinely don't think I will be able to put all my thoughts in one paragraph, so I'm gonna do subheadings for each episode, and I don't think I'm gonna do an album review because I absolutely love each of the songs so so much. But I will say my favorites are the ones where the band plays together. I just love the sound. Kenny Ortega is such a talented and artistic person; for reference, he also directed the High School Musical trilogy, Hocus Pocus, Newsies, and Descendants. This show is currently going through attempts to either be bought by Disney to make future seasons or get Netflix to keep running it because they canceled it for GINNY AND GEORGIA 🤮🤮 (I hate that show). Anyway, I'm gonna rewatch episodes before I start writing because I was gonna do that anyway, but also to give the best writing I can give. Enjoy! (btw all paragraphs will have spoilers, and I'm writing as I watch, so bear with me)

Episode 1: Wake up

Okay, so episode one is probably my least favorite for a few reasons. for starters Julie is so hesitant when talking to the guys, and I know that it's for the story. She can't just automatically trust these randos, but I really love it when she and the band rely on each other. I think it's really sweet how they are almost like her lifeline through all her mom stuff and how listening and playing music makes her feel. In the scene where she just finds the ghosts and doesn't even know their names yet, I feel it's hard to grasp the seriousness of it; Julie is literally getting a sneak peek of the afterlife and is wearing these giant animal slippers. I literally hate those slippers. They make her look more childish which could be on purpose with how scared she is of the ghosts. Although after she learns to trust them, I think it's sweet, and I like how Luke just wants people to hear them play music. I also really like the first song they (Sunset Curve) play, Now or Never bro Luke is so fineeee in that scene🤭 but I also really like the theory that the person they meet there at the Orpheum is her mom because that opens many doors for the future side plots. Also, I won't be talking about anything like Julie's music program because the next episode resolves it, so it's irrelevant! But I really liked the humor in this episode; for example, Carlos, who is always an icon, is all like, "A normal sister, for starters, stop being weird and come eat." I love him; he's my fav. But also, at dinner, when they had to move the place setting, it made me laugh, and the whole resentment for their aunt was shown in the entire thing with the leftovers and Carlos hitting her kiss away. I LOVE the foreshadowing in this show; when the guys go into town, Alex bumps into a future character, and throughout, some songs are played slightly before they are played for the audience. I think the foreshadowing makes rewatching it so much more enjoyable. Going to the end of the episode, I absolutely love the song Wake Up and would love to be able to play it myself, so just y'all wait, I'm gonna be a piano player. (I have never picked up an instrument in my life) But in all seriousness, I love how everybody she cares about hears the song; I think it really represents a turning point and almost the new beginning of the story. It shows that Julie is opening a new door and is obviously playing music again, but it shows other people that she is ready to move on. The way I see it is when people bottle up emotions and then tell somebody after a while. Even though she didn't know people heard her play, it's a TV show, so it's not gonna be too accurate to real life. But I think that scene is a like when you share your feelings for the first time in a while iykyk. Anyway, that's the end of episode one. See down below for episode 2!

Episode 2: Bright

this episode, in my opinion, is when the show takes a turning point and actually gets good. Maybe it's because the band plays together for the first time, and I love that, or maybe I'm just right 🤷‍♀️but anyways, this episode is so funny, especially the whole "the only thing scarier than one girl crying is two girls crying." I really liked the reason she plays Wake Up because it really is sweet; we should try to do things that our loved ones would have liked. I loved the scene where the boys start crying in front of Ray its so real and so funny. I think this episode really emphasizes how Reggie is supposed to be the dumb one, which I get that you can't have like all three of the same personalities; otherwise, it would be this whole "why doesn't Julie like Reggie instead of Luke" They do this to make Luke look more appealing to Julie and try to get people to root for them. Moving to Carlos and his obsession with ghosts, I would love to see a season two where he gets confirmation from Julie and is able to talk to them maybe? But I think that seeing him know about the ghosts like Flynn would be cool. (Maybe like Jackson from Hannah Montana) Another thing that stuck out to me was Luke's mindset of 'Don't ask but do' because someone I know who had passed had always said, "Ask for forgiveness, not permission"(you know who you are), and although it's not a direct mirror I still really like that he said that. In this scene, Julie also walks through Luke, and people say that the moment he developed feelings for her because apparently when they walk through someone, the ghost is able to see their soul, which is also seen with Reggie and Julie's dad. This might be why Reggie is drawn to Ray as the show picks up. Moving on, in Carrie's performance, if those are raw vocals and weren't added in after, it is really impressive having all the dancing and singing simultaneously, but idk if they happened at the same time or not. Now, my fav part of the episode is ofc Bright, which is absolutely a tough scene to understand in its entirety. I mean, I didn't even get the winking part until like a third rewatch, but in this scene, we learn that the band can be seen ONLY when they play with Julie, and they are invisible again once the music stops. Another thing, if we dig a little deeper, is that we see Julie and Luke's dynamic in their relationship. "Is this really happening?" "Just go with it." I think it shows Julie's fear and anxiety that things will disappear, as well as Luke's spontaneity. Which couldn't make a better duo. That's the end of the episode, and I love how the cliffhanger is left, so then episode 3 picks up right where it left off.

Episode 3:Flying Solo

So this one gives me lowkey Hannah Montana vibes with Flynn finding out about the ghosts, and like just the way she acts between Bright and Flying Solo, she is just so so so Lily coded it's insane. But I think if this were real life, she was a little harsh. Funny enough, I was in PE class, and we were reading this like health textbook, and it mentioned this thing called 'I' statements (btw y'all write this down; it's SUPER good to know). So an 'I' statement is something you say when someone hurts you; you almost like blame yourself kinda, and it makes the other person think more about how they made you feel, for example, "I feel like my thoughts aren't being heard" instead of "why won't you listen to me" now think which one would you lie to hear? Exactly. Flynn uses a lot of 'you' statements and makes Julie almost sound like a villain who is out to get her. I know she cares, but she almost sounds toxic to me. Carrie also uses these statements but not really in serious matters; she uses them appropriately, and she is supposed to be an antagonist, so it would make sense that she uses your statements to make fun of Julie. But I also feel bad for her in a way; she goes on this short little spiel about how she earned her spot, and Julie just shows up and upstages her while she worked really hard on the routine, and I think she felt ignored. Her boyfriend, Nick, also took Julie's side, which had to hurt. But aside from that, one of my favorite scenes is when Luke, Alex, and Reggie are in the garage, and Alex is pacing like a maniac, and Reggie says their elevator music blah blah blah. Basically, I just think it is really funny, and it made me laugh. Now, in this episode, we meet Willie, which could be why they made Alex gay or because they can't have multiple love interests for Julie, but regardless, I still like Willie. I also like how, in this episode, they emphasize that they are from the '90s, which is basically the only one where they talk about that besides episode 1. We see Alex not knowing who Justin Bieber is and "drumming is so '90s." I would love to see more of this in the future, maybe like a joke about '90s slang or pop culture that Julie doesn't understand. I think that would be funny. Moving on, when Luke yells "hey" in Flynn's face while performing, I just find it funny. Anyway, the song is where the episode ends, but I want to add that I thought Flynn was a little rude. I didn't like how she was with the whole "I'm gonna text ur dad" mind, but ig that's just her character.

Episode 4: I got the Music

Ok, so this episode is also one of my least favorites. I get the point that it's full of plot-changing events, but if y'all didn't notice, there are not a lot of good songs in this episode, so music-wise, this one is the worst. I mean, when it first starts off, you know the episode is gonna be mid when it starts with a song like that. I feel like they also just added I Got the Music to make up for the fact that there are literally no other songs throughout the whole episode, and they needed to name the episode. But the foreshadowing is crazy in this; the songs that Julie gives us a taste of on the piano show that this whole season was planned out, which is genius and could've been really big, but it got canceled. 🙄 I see you Netflix. Anyway, in the part where Luke finds out about Trevor Wilson, he asks, "What were his other hits?" so dramatically. I can't help but laugh every time I see that clip. Also side note: I love Luke's outfit when they haunt Bobby. And Carrie is really pretty. Her hair is such a nice color. Now, moving on from looks, Why do I think it was improved when Flynn spilled the water? I don't think that was supposed to happen. And the mooning thing. How is this rated G? I would assume PG, at least for that and the serious topics that come up with Luke's mom and all. But ig the department thought it was on the same level as Doc Mcstuffins.

Episode 5: The Other Side of Hollywood

So, in this episode, the main point is that the band blew Julie off at the dance and went to the Hollywood Ghost Club, which is run by Caleb, whom we saw earlier when Alex had briefly run into him at the strip. This episode raises many questions about Caleb and who he is as an antagonist. Are the girls dancing and the people playing the instruments on stage ghosts? Are these people ghosts who had gotten into a similar situation as the boys get into later in the show, and did they decide to join, or did Caleb threaten them? But I also want to give kudos to how high Caleb can sing. It's truly impressive. Now, while all this is happening at the club, Julie is awaiting the guy's arrival at the dance. Which they never show up, But it shows the time passing by cutting to a bench where a boy and girl sit on each end, and as time goes on the boy scooches closer to the girl, I really like this technique of time passing, instead of just checking a watch or phone every now and then. It also shows maybe that a lot can happen in a short amount of time, although in the dance time, the hour that was late may be a lot, but at the Club, the hour was nothing, and still, they got cursed in that little of time being there. But Caleb's offer was honestly pretty good, and I understand why the band didn't take it, but he was totally fair about what he wanted. I'm not gonna go into too much detail in this paragraph, but later, I will talk about how fair his offer was. His main mistake was taking it too far and putting the stamp on the band. At the dance, Nick is seen as somebody who messed everything up, but he obviously had good intentions; I mean, he didn't know Julie was actually waiting on people. He thought she was a one-person band with a machine; we have to credit him for pushing her out of what he thought was her comfort zone. We also need to give some credit to Caleb's scatting skills. When it's not singing but, it's still really good. He's got skills. However, that sends us to basically the end of the episode, blah blah blah; Julie leaves the band, and they get the jolts, and then Luke says, "How can we die if we are already dead?" Like I said, the foreshadowing in this show is immaculate.

Episode 6: Finally Free

Here is where the music picks up again, and we finally get another song with the whole band. But aside from that, the first part of this episode is Julie missing her first three classes because Flynn didn't wake her up, but a real friend would've. #ick. Anyways, she is in dance class and partners with Nick to dance together. We learn that he and Carrie broke up, which is for the better, but I would just love to know how Carrie handled it, if she ever really liked Nick, or if it was just for popularity? Did she cry? These are the questions we need to be asking. Another good question is if the boys' actions or words can activate the jolts that Caleb put on them. The first one they get in the episode is right after Luke says, "We got this with Julie. We don't need him." Can this be something Caleb did to subconsciously make them think that saying and thinking things that don't line up with his plans will give them jolts? Also, Reggie's sense of humor is great; moving the lady's plate is peak comedy; y'all know, if I was a ghost, that's all I'd be doing. Willie calls these jolts 'flickering,' but I hate that term. Aside from that, this is the episode where the whole show changes perspective; we go from a kid's show with a basic dream, love interest, protagonist, and antagonist to a show with a deeper meaning. Some people say that Unsaid Emily was when this aspect of the show changed for them, but for me, it was this episode when Luke went to see his parents on his birthday. He just sits there and watches them; he blows out his birthday candle, and his parents can't even feel his presence. It's small, but when they all blow out the candle together, Luke is a little late, and I feel like it adds to the whole idea of his parents not knowing he's there and that he was too late in life to make up with his parents. It's a brief scene, but it opens a new door; the show isn't all about Julie and her being alive. The guys have people they care about as well. I would love to see more of their parents and if they had any siblings or not, to learn more about their lives before they died. Anyway, after the whole Luke scene, we get more foreshadowing of the song they eventually sing at the gig; we get the melody and a few lyrics as Julie sings throughout her house. Now, before I talk about The actual performance, we NEED to mention Carries, like, bro, "I'm taking over your playlist." Yes, you are! 👏👏 And Alex going up there again is too funny, "Put me back in coach." (btw I'm going in order of how this happens in the show) Then the guy called up Julie and the phat ones, which struck a part of me. I felt honestly targeted, which is the reason I like typing more than writing. My handwriting is the most atrocious thing ever. Sometimes, it's so bad I have to erase and rewrite just so my teacher can read it. But enough about my handwriting, the way Luke looks at Julie while on stage is just so ughhh, I think I would die if somebody looked at me like that. At the end of the episode, we see Julie's dad, who has basically ruined her chance at a record deal, come and get her from the club. I don't know if any of this made any sense, but Iykyk. 🤷‍♀️

Episode 7: Edge of Great

from the title of the episode, y'all already know it's gonna be good. So, in this episode, we see Reggie and Ray's one-sided friendship really take off, which, as I said earlier, could be because Reggie saw his soul; we also find out that they have a gig at Julie's house. This is not the band's ideal gig, but it's a start. Now, moving on from basic facts, Luke talking to Julie in her school hallway. "cmon I can't do this without you," I would melttt. But then their one-on-one conversation gets interrupted by Nick, who may be part of the reason we get some Juke action later 🤭 But to me the hallway scene was just a gift from Kenny Ortega. And another gift, Perfect Harmony. This is foreshadowed once again when Julie accidentally calls Nick Luke. But I want to talk about the cinematography of this scene, for starters as Luke walks out of the mirror, the background goes dark, representing Julie thinking about nothing but Luke, and the fact that they fail to touch twice before actually touching, I believe represents the failures and fights within their relationship. Once they actually do touch, though, Julie looks almost more alive, like she has been plugged in, if that makes sense? idk y'all need to watch it. But, basically, her movements and sudden aliveness show that Luke is her lifeline and the reason she dances, or in her case, writes and makes music. Another thing I just absolutely love about the storytelling in this dance is lean they do, showing they trust each other and 'lean' on each other. I don't really have much to say about the lift, but ugh, it was so well choreographed. It is a similar story to when Luke's hands glide up to Julie. Words cannot explain how much I would FOLD instantly marry me. Moving on from choreography the lyrics, guys, the lyrics. They actually speak for themselves: "We say we're friends, we play pretend." I can't, bro I actually can't; they're so cute. I'm assuming this dance was actually Nick and Julie dancing, but she was just imagining Luke instead, which opens doors for inexistent future seasons. Also, later, we see Julie briefly playing this song on the piano; I would love to see Luke finding out about this song somehow. Continuing on from the song, Flynn says this iconic line of "I know you always want what you can't have, but Luke is next level." She honestly gives good advice to her friend, trying to help her want someone who's actually living and not dead. I also want to give another garage scene some credit when the boys are all in there, and it's the whole "you guys ooze chemistry" too funny, y'all too funny. But then, we get to the episode title, GUYS. This performance key reminds me of Bright in the way there's just so much to unpack with their body language. We have Julie trying her best not to look at Luke, and Luke is trying to get her to look at him. She does the whole dance with Alex and Reggie and then skips Luke, which gives him the idea to give us the absolute best guitar solo I've ever heard and successfully looks Julie in the eyes before she hits an incredible note. Side track, but Madison (Julie) has one of the greatest voices I have ever heard. Her range is impeccable, and the way she is able to jump up and down and then sing flawlessly is so admirable. Getting back on track, Luke, after Alex and Reggie vanish, joins Julie at the piano. Was this planned? Did Luke improve it? Why did Julie go with it? Once again these are the questions we need to be asking. And then we get another iconic Flynn line: "Epic fail on that eye contact thing." Going into a more serious matter, we learn that the flickering will eventually make the boys cease to exist, which gives them three options: work for Caleb, cease to exist, or complete their unfinished business and cross over. And, of course, they choose to complete their unfinished business, to play the Orpheum. And that's the cliffhanger for this episode!

Episode 8: Unsaid Emily

So, if y'all are just going with the flow and hearing about this show for the first time, you most likely don't know who Emily is; she's Luke's mom. This episode starts off with Alex and Willie talking in the Orpheum. We get a little inside at who Willie is and his feelings on the whole situation, we also see Julie turn down Nick for a date, which I want to go into more depth about. In today's society, I feel like it's just so normalized to date people just to date them, but we see Julie turn Nick down when she is not even in a relationship; she knows she doesn't like Nick like that, and she says she doesn't want to waste Nicks time. She is so admirable for that; she knows she has feelings for someone else, and even when asked, she doesn't go out with someone else even when her real desires won't happen. Moving on, we see Julie and Luke go to see Luke's parents. Julie gives them the song Unsaid Emily, and we get this montage almost of his past. Talking about the cinematography of this scene, I don't have much to say. Most of it I felt was great and matched up with the lyrics, but in one part, we see Luke's young parents sitting in their house minding their own business, and cop lights appear. Now, at first glance, I thought it was weird how they would start crying by just seeing the lights, but digging deeper, it is using a rhetorical style to imply that, basically, that was their reaction when they found out about Lukes passing, although the actual conversation where they hear about it is irrelevant to the story, their reaction isn't. I have also heard theories that his parents could hear him singing the song, which I like this idea, but it may raise the question of whether his parents find this weird. No, I'm going with no; I'm assuming that If they could actually hear him singing, they tucked it away and made it a part of their imagination; as they read the song he wrote, they thought they were imagining him singing it. After that scene, Luke thanks Julie for helping him have less regret about running out on his mom and then drops the iconic line, "This is an interesting little relationship you and I have." Let's just marinate in his words for a moment. But then his words become bad, and he tells Julie about the three options and all that, and of course, she's upset, who wouldn't be? Flynn then comes in while she is trying to work everything out. Julie is wearing a shirt that says, "Everything was a dream" It probably means nothing, but It's a cool thought. Later, we learn about signs, there's a sunset curve shirt, and more in the next episode. I also want to bring up that during the credits of this episode Now or Never plays which is one of the best songs in this whole series.

Episode 9: Stand Tall

Last episode! To start this one, we get a very nice hug from Willie and Alex, which I think explains their whole dynamic. But they also go up and book themselves a gig at the Orpheum opening for Panic at the Disco, who never actually shows up in the episode, but anyway, Carlos finds out about the ghosts, and so does Bobby. To get a better insight, Bobby ends up at the Orpheum that night with Carrie. But before we get more into that we got ANOTHER awesome Luke line "Anything Julie, you know that" I would dieee right then and there. But going to more serious matters, Caleb teleports them to his club and puts them in these outfits that, can I say, are just amazing. I think they suit each one of their characters great. But then Caleb sings one of my fav songs from the series, which once again now is where I want to talk about how fair this offer was, he knew these boys were just too powerful, and as said in the show, he wants them working for him. He mentions in the song, "So come over and tell me how you'd like to begin." He offers the boys freedom in how they want to perform; we see Reggie vanish onto stage and have almost like a grand entrance while Luke walks on stage and eases into Caleb with such a fantastic guitar solo. He also gives them their instruments; if you look closely and compare the two episodes, Luke uses the same guitar as when he plays Now or Never and Edge of Great, as in this scene here. Basically, what I'm saying is that if the boys had taken his offer, I think that they would have still been able to write and perform the way they want to, and maybe get back to how they would act when performing with sunset curve. Also once again I want to give credit to Calebs singing and scatting skills, he sings high while scatting. It's truly impressive. But over at the Orpheum, Julie runs out crying until a random lacy hands her a Dahlia flower, which, if we remember, was the flower she wore on her vest when they sang Flying Free. Her moms favorite. This is what Julie calls a sign. So she goes up on stage to perform the last song of the series. I have a lot to say about it; for starters, I love how each of them came in separately and how you can hear when each of them appears; even if it wasn't planned, it's still really cool. Secondly, Luke's sleeves, where did they go? It's not like I'm complaining 🤭 but did he lose them while teleporting like that one time Reggie lost his shirt? Also, during their performance, Carrie stands up, almost subconsciously, I feel. I would love to see a future season where they are friends and maybe write a song together. Talking more about how they perform, If you notice, Julie never stands up from the piano at any of their shows until all of the guys have appeared; most of the time, it's at the same time. But in this, Julie doesn't move until Luke flashes in. We also see Bobby visibly shaken by them; he is scared for a lot of reasons, and this is why we need a season 2. This basically ends off the episode until Julie goes into the studio to find three very weak ghosts, they are limping and look visibly in pain. Until Julie and Luke hug, after they find out that they can touch each other, the first thing they go for is each other. The reason is that when we meet new people or even see people we've known forever, their faces are the first thing we notice, and they only ever get to look and never really feel each other's faces. I think the reason is that when we meet new people or even see people we've known forever, their face is the first thing we notice, and they only ever get to look and never really feel each other's embrace. And the stamp thing goes away for all of them, blah blah blah. But then Nick comes by, and Caleb puts himself into Nicks's body? And that's it. That's the cliffhanger. Literally, nothing else happens. Although with this scene, after the whole soul transfer thing, instead of Nick cracking his neck and whatnot, it would have been really cool if he opened his eyes and they were purple and then went back to normal if that makes sense.

So that's the end, I guess. If you read all of that, I really want to thank you, especially if you had no interest in what I was talking about, but this genuinely took me like 2 days, and I put a lot of effort into it, so if you didn't like it please don't be a hater.

Signing off,

Hailey <3