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It follows the exploits of a teenager named Rachel Buchanan who has a former background in gymnastics (that trope goes all the way back to New Phoenix's Darkfury..but it holds up well) and later starts training in martial arts. She anonymously stops a persecuted nerd from taking revenge on all of his classmates at a cool-kids party. As a result, rumors start flying about the "Party Girl", and so she adopts that name as her superheroine moniker, donning a black suit with a red leotard, a black wig with red streaks, and a black mask (later, she exchanges it for a glittery red one). Villains range from murderous gangsters to various high school kids gone awry. In the first season, Party Girl is played by 15-year-old Jeanne Lampley (who doesn't seem to have any internet presence except a profile on a Dallas agency page), and in the second, she is portrayed by over-18 actress Cait Pool. Both have their individual strengths they bring to the role.
Lampley
Pool
What I like most about this series is the dedication that Lewis and everyone involved shows to the project. The episodes are lengthy with many scenes apiece, the characters are well developed and there are several parallel story threads (for a couple episodes, Lewis even inserts an entire superhero team called The Immortals and a rogues' gallery called Bad Reputation) and the viewer gets sucked in for a while and really connects with the situations of all the main characters. As far as what it can recommend to folks on this board: the heroine frequently gets beaten, suffers bruises, bloodying, setbacks and peril (there's one scene where she's tied to a chair and about to be shot)..but on the other hand also often delivers an almost-too-easy ass-kicking. It'll satisfy both peril and power camps. This is definitely an adult series because of some mild profanity, lots of violence and some murders, even though the main character is a teenager. I think, however, that teens over 14 would also definitely enjoy it, especially because they can identify with many of the characters that are portrayed (they're also fairly ethnically diverse, which is nice...although for an African-American director, Lewis sure likes to cast a lot of black guys as villainous thugs).
I really only had a couple beefs with the whole thing: 1) Party Girl's costume in the second season is improved in some ways (she gets bright red boots) but also falls victim to the whole "dark jacket" syndrome..and then we don't see her red leotard again until the very end of the series. Considering that Cait Pool herself is quoted in one of the promo videos as saying that the jacket combo was too hot to wear while filming in the summer, you'd think it would've made more sense to stick to the original red ensemble. But I do understand they wanted to switch things for season two. And 2) with a whole episode in the second season revolving around prejudice against gay rights (I'm for full LBGT equality and rights, of course, I just don't think an agenda needs to be drubbed into people's heads by superhero characters..plus it detracts from the moral ambiguity of vigilantism).. I thought the series was about to jump the PC shark...but luckily the content pulled back from politics following that. A few episodes later, there is even a hero called War Eagle who culturally appropriates Native American and Asian motifs for her costume..and you know the Ivy League campus protesters wouldn't be into that...so just evens. 3) Rachel never even remotely develops any kind of romance with any other character in the series. The stories of love for family and friends are paramount..but you'd really think a teenage girl with raging hormones and parent problems would at least want to kiss someone in the course of 26 episodes, when even her lesbian friend gets some girlfriend action. I guess in that respect, the series severely passes the Bechdel Test, although I doubt that was its intention.
I guess you should start from the very beginning and watch all 26 episodes..plus some micro shorts. Here's episode one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl-5dxVHn6g
Other episodes that I can recommend for special attention are:
W.T.F. (a kinky young couple tie up Party Girl and threaten to shoot her)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jccE9D75dbY
Grappling (teenage female wrestler rages and hulks out)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugAvrrtcl_M
Raise a Lil' Hell (Party Girl fights a chaotic pair of rich spoiled twins)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIvEkkKIUqc
For My Sister (a hot Catwoman-ish thief named Delilah is introduced)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGuIBwO1jLs
Immortalize Me Part I (Party Girl vs War Eagle)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64ddEMZR-z4
Immortalize Me Part II (attn: extremely beautiful Belarussian actress Hanna Vaitovich who plays hooker-turned-heroine Strong-Arm)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8d1Gzj_l0Y
Cornered (Party Girl fights police officers and a female detective, and gets shot..considerable peril and stress)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VQ8dlpUBGY
The actress who plays both Rose sisters, and the second actress to play Rachel's sister Michelle are also standouts.
The final episode is a real nice climax, both a revelatory shocker and a cliffhanger...changing the game a bit for what will hopefully be a third season.
(I won't post the link to that one, because you should really watch a bunch of the others to emotionally build yourself up to it).
What amazes me is how little this series has been viewed (many of the episodes have literally only 200 or so views, and none have over 1500). It's been almost criminally ignored except for a couple of fan blogs. I would like to know what people think of this series..and it might push the viewership up a bit if a bunch of people from this forum watched it, and even gave BJ Lewis some constructive praise about it to encourage him to continue. Hopefully Cait Pool can sign on for more.
