Odessa A'zion
Joey Del Marco
Overview
Five students at the largest public high school in Brooklyn take on a chaotic world as they fight to succeed, survive, break free and seize the future.
Seasons
- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 9 episodes
- First aired
- Oct 16, 2020
Cast
8 people
Reviews
6 min readThe Unfinished Manifesto
I keep thinking about the opening shot of Grand Army—a slow pan across a Brooklyn high school hallway, lockers slamming, laughter bouncing off linoleum, the kind of chaos that feels like freedom until it isn’t. Then the explosion. Not a metaphor.
A bomb. A real, jarring cut to smoke and screaming, the kind of violence that’s supposed to shock but instead feels like it’s been waiting in the wings all along. That’s the thing about this show: it wants to be urgent, but it moves like a student dragging themselves to first period, late and already exhausted.
Katie Cappiello’s series, adapted from her own play Slut, is an attempt to capture the sprawl of teenage life in all its messy, contradictory glory. It follows five students at Grand Army High, Brooklyn’s largest public school, as they navigate sex, race, class, and the quiet terror of impending adulthood. There’s Joey (Odessa A’zion), the white, middle-class girl whose assault at the hands of three friends becomes the show’s emotional core; Dom (Odley Jean), the Haitian-American senior juggling school, work, and the weight of her family’s expectations; Sid (Amir Bageria), the Indian-American swimmer grappling with his sexuality and the pressure to get into Harvard; Jayson (Maliq Johnson), the Black jazz musician caught in the school-to-prison pipeline; and Leila (Amalia Yoo), the Chinese-Jewish adoptee whose identity crises manifest in increasingly volatile ways.
It’s an ambitious ensemble, and at its best, Grand Army feels like a series that’s actually about something—about the way systems fail kids, about the way kids fail each other, about the way we all carry our traumas like backpacks we can’t put down.
But ambition isn’t the same as execution. The show’s biggest flaw isn’t its subject matter—it’s the way it stumbles under the weight of its own intentions. There’s a moment in the third episode where Dom, after a particularly brutal day of balancing school, work, and her siblings’ needs, snaps at her guidance counselor: “My anger doesn’t count.” It’s a line that lands like a punch, a perfect distillation of the way Black women’s emotions are policed, dismissed, or weaponized against them.
Odley Jean delivers it with a rawness that feels like a revelation, and for a second, you think the show might actually have something to say. But then the episode lurches into another subplot, another thread left dangling, another character’s crisis that feels more like a checklist item than a lived experience. The Hollywood Reporter’s Inkoo Kang put it best: “Grand Army lets several of its cast members shine through complex characters and culturally specific plotlines and [yet] the show’s ambitions underscore its messy, sluggish, all-too-frequently frustrating storytelling.”
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsInside the Making of Grand Army: Cast Chemistry, Queer Storylines, and Season 2 Rumors
Netflix’s Grand Army (2020) arrived as a raw, unfiltered look at the lives of Brooklyn high schoolers navigating identity, activism, and adolescence. While the series earned praise for its bold storytelling, the cast’s off-screen camaraderie and behind-the-scenes insights have kept fans buzzing. latestnetflix.com's take is that From playful interviews to candid discussions about queer representation, the young ensemble has offered glimpses into the show’s creation—and the lingering question of whether a second season will ever materialize.
Cast Chemistry: From Toronto Jokes to On-Set Bonds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2dHEOM57dk
The Grand Army cast didn’t just play friends—they became them. Odessa A’zion (Joey Del Marco) and Amir Bageria (Siddhartha Pakam) set the tone in a lighthearted interview, swapping jokes about filming in Toronto and ribbing their co-stars. A’zion, in particular, emerged as a fan favorite for her sharp wit and unfiltered humor, whether discussing her character’s complexities or playfully teasing Bageria about his on-screen intensity .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQJEYP3QoA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u40bPkGeCFw
The ensemble’s dynamic extended beyond the cameras. In a group interview, the cast revealed how they bonded over shared experiences, from improvising scenes to dissecting which actors were most like their characters. Maliq Johnson (Jayson Jackson) and Amalia Yoo (Anna Delaney) stood out for their ability to blur the line between role and reality, with Johnson admitting he channeled his own high school energy into Jayson’s rebellious spirit . Meanwhile, Brittany Adebumola (Dominique Pierre) and Crystal Nelson (Tamika Jones) brought a grounded, sisterly vibe to their characters’ friendship, a chemistry that translated seamlessly on screen .
Queer Inclusion and Coming-of-Age Realness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2RTMigCNAU
Grand Army didn’t shy away from LGBTQ+ storylines, and the cast embraced the opportunity to amplify queer voices. In a sit-down with Raffy Ermac, actors like A’zion and Bageria discussed the importance of authentic representation, particularly in Joey and Sid’s relationship—a rare portrayal of queer teens navigating love and identity without sensationalism. A’zion highlighted how the show’s writers consulted with LGBTQ+ advisors to ensure the storylines felt real, not just performative .
The cast also opened up about the pressures of playing characters so deeply tied to real-world issues. Odley Jean (Mei Wazowski) spoke about the weight of portraying a young woman grappling with activism and personal trauma, while Alphonso Jones II (Tim Delaney) admitted to drawing from his own experiences as a Black teen in predominantly white spaces . Their candidness underscored the show’s commitment to raw, unvarnished storytelling—even when it meant tackling uncomfortable truths.
The Season 2 Question: Will It Happen?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9YPxDhB7pw
Despite the show’s cult following, Grand Army’s future remains uncertain. The cast has been vocal about their desire for a second season, with A’zion and Bageria even reacting to fan theories and rumors in an exclusive interview. While Netflix has yet to confirm renewal, the actors hinted at untapped storylines, including deeper dives into Dominique’s political awakening and Joey’s post-assault journey .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c3_oTZZA6A
MTV News teased five key elements fans could expect if the show returned, from expanded queer narratives to a sharper focus on systemic inequality . But with no official word from Netflix, the cast’s enthusiasm—paired with the show’s abrupt ending—leaves the door open for speculation. For now, fans are left clinging to the hope that Grand Army’s story isn’t over.
The Takeaway
Grand Army’s legacy isn’t just in its storytelling—it’s in the cast’s unfiltered, often hilarious, behind-the-scenes moments. From Toronto inside jokes to heartfelt discussions about representation, the ensemble brought a level of authenticity that made the show feel like more than just another teen drama. Whether or not a second season materializes, their chemistry and commitment to the material have already cemented Grand Army as a standout in Netflix’s lineup.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.