The trio of Hardison, Phillips, and Fellini is certainly capable, especially given the inexperience of the younger actors, but they are given a lot to handle. Belying the simplicity of its title, Teenage Bounty Hunters gets extremely complicated as it delves into concepts like teenage purity, first-time queer experiences, and an intriguing mystery involving the girls’ mom, whose polished facade apparently hides a multitude of past sins. Fortunately, the main cast is backed by equally talented performers like Mackenzie Astin as the girls’ dad, underrated Fairly Legal alum Virginia Williams as their duplicitous mom, and Devon Hales as a venomous classmate.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Best of all, the dialogue practically crackles: Sterling puts a gun in her purse because “I wasn’t going to meet up with a bounty hunter unarmed—that’s just common sense!” Blair comments at one of their mother’s social gatherings that “Mrs. Burton told her that the guest towels were beautifully crisp; she’ll be high on that ’til Christmas.” The twins poke fun at Sterling’s boyfriend Luke and his reluctance to watch movies with subtitles: “Why would I read a movie? I don’t drink meatloaf.”

However outlandish the teens’ bounty hunter lifestyle appears to be (willing the audience to ignore the fact that the girls’ strict parents are somehow unaware of all their late-night outings, never mind the fact that they are able to fit these adventures into what appears to be an already packed teen lifestyle), the appealing performances of Phillips and Fellini may be enough to lure the viewer in for some summer-fun viewing. But which viewers? Although primarily set in a high school, the show is rated TV-MA—albeit more for the nudity in the strip club and a few explicit sex scenes than any perp-related violence. Still, it’s a missed opportunity not to steer this show more toward the teen market, an audience that would be able to relate to and appreciate the twins’ quips and commentary than any other. It’s right there in the title.