Creating a series that revolves around young people and at the same time succeeds in captivating an audience that does not belong to that age category. That turned out not always to be an easy task in recent television history. Chameleonwhich has been on Streamz since this week, makes a new attempt to successfully complete that balancing act.
The series revolves around Chris (Noa Iazï Tambwe Kabati), Blackson (Tama Theophore Kabeya), Kofi (Namzoya Abdulwahid) and Tina (Britt Hellinx). Four friends from Kiel, each in their own way trying to escape the Antwerp neighborhood and the prejudices associated with life there. The focus is mainly on the ambitions of Chris, who dreams of an acting career. And who, in the urge to realize his ambition, makes one wrong decision after another. With all its consequences.
Because although Chameleon is marketed as a comedy series, this does not mean that the heavier topics are ignored. While the first episodes mainly focus on the comic effect, as the series progresses you also get an increasingly better and raw picture of the problems that a district like Kiel has to contend with. Racism and prejudice are a theme. Just like the drug violence in the neighborhood. And the problems of single mother Tina (Britt Hellinx) are also discussed in detail. But the series never becomes too heavy-handed.
Thanks to the inventive design of the series, which was cleverly borrowed from a few eighties computer games. In this way, both the state of mind and the financial situation of the protagonists are summarized in one status bar and as a viewer you regularly receive extra information on the screen in the same eighties font.
Cast and soundtrack are assets
The – largely unknown – cast also deserves praise. The four young main actors play with a kind of flair that suits their characters perfectly. Kudos also for the casting manager who succeeded in recruiting Marijke Pinoy, Frank Lammers and even James Cooke for a supporting role in Chameleon to snare.
The soundtrack is another asset. Written and produced by Will Michiels (aka GR€Y) and Eddie Addai (aka Yung Dada), it adds an extra layer of atmosphere Chameleon to. It is also nice that Namzoya Abdulwahid (aka Once1X), who plays Kofi in the series, contributed to two of the songs that can be heard in the series.
And we haven’t even talked about the screenplay yet. A piece of work by Malik Mohammed, who you may know from So You Think You Can Dance or – more recently – Thirtysomethingswho joined forces with Kristof Hoefkens, who previously provided storylines for, among others Spitsbrothers, The crack and Money wolves. This collaboration produces a story in which you as a viewer are regularly misled. Every time you think you know what’s going to happen next, take it Chameleon yet another twist. Moreover, Mohammed and Hoefkens make a sport of having almost every episode end on a cliffhanger, which Chameleon makes it ideal binge material.
This results in a youth series that should also appeal to older viewers. Just make sure you don’t put the youth language-Standard Dutch dictionary too far away.
