Still Star-Crossed

“Still Star-Crossed is fanfiction made for TV.”

Title: Still Star-Crossed
Episodes Reviewed: Season 1
Creator: Heather Mitchell 👩🏼🇺🇸
Writers: Heather Mitchell 👩🏼🇺🇸 (7 eps) and various (4 ♀, 2 ♂, and 1 POC) based on the book by Melinda Taub 👩🏼🇺🇸

Reviewed by Li 👩🏻🇺🇸

Technical: 3/5

Still Star-Crossed is such a tricky show to score for this category. It is in equal parts a superlative work while being trope-filled and derivative. Scripting suffers from comical levels of rote predictability and harlequin romance, but that same attribute works in its favor at times and produces some genuinely heart-melting scenes. Sure, we’ve seen moments of gallantry like when Benvolio (Wade Briggs) offers his cloak to a shivering Rosaline (Lashana Lynch). But their ensuing banter remains perfection, their chemistry magic enough that even mediocre writing won’t slow them down. Solid performances from supporting actors, such as veteran Anthony Head as Lord Capulet or Ebonée Noel as his niece Livia Capulet round out Still Star-Crossed’s watchability.

A word of warning to history buffs: The anachronisms may drive you mad. I can’t tell you how many gray hairs I got from seeing costume choices that borrow willy-nilly from from the 1500s and 1700s for a show set in the late 1300s. At one point, Lord Capulet uses the word “propaganda” which wasn’t in use with its modern meaning until the 20th century. But if you can suspend disbelief, the blissful world of romantic wish fulfillment awaits.

Gender: 4.25/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test: YES

Rosaline is the strong heroine of Still Star-Crossed, independent in the ways that matter. You won’t find condescending lip service here; she isn’t “fiery” or “feisty”, rather, Rosaline is confident in her actions but believably unsure with her heart. She cares more for her sister than any man. And she does exactly what she wants, but within the bounds of her responsibilities to others, displaying moral fiber.

By the numbers, the show does well. The cast and speaking time feel balanced between men and women. The only bone I have to pick, unfortunately, is that so many of the women fall into the stereotype of being wily, scheming whisperers into the ears of men. Princess Isabella (Medalion Rahimi) is not a bad person, but she certainly plays the political game and is the less scrupulous of Verona royalty compared to her brother. Lady Capulet (Zuleikha Robinson) is a flat villain who suffers from both overacting and terrible dialogue, turning her scenes into a chore to watch.

The men suffer equally from shallow characterizations, but while Lords Capulet and Montague (Grant Bowler) are devious in their own ways, they genuinely seek to end their family feud which places them on the side of Good in this simplistic story.

Race: 5/5

The racial diversity of Still Star-Crossed is spectacular, each scene filled with characters of any manner of skin tone. Finally, a period show that doesn’t erase people of color! As Monique Jones writes for Ebony, “Everyone will have the opportunity to realize that yes, black women were everywhere, even 1300s Italy.”

Interracial romances are commonplace, including the primary love story between Benvolio, who is white, and Rosaline, who is Black and dark-skinned. Her sister Livia is also dark-skinned. Both characters have the blood of nobility and are largely treated with respect. This rejection of colorism contributes to a bone-deep sense that Still Star-Crossed completely gets it. Whether an actor is Black, white, South Asian, Middle Eastern, or East Asian—and yes, all these communities have representation on the show!—they are taken at face value as Italians. The only origins that matter in Still Star-Crossed is what city-state the characters hail from, whether it’s Verona, Venice, Mantua, or Padua. This focus on lived experience—where an individual is born, raised, and who they’re related to—feels so welcome as markers of identity in a media landscape that so often reaches for just race as a way to lazily build characters.

LGBTQ: 4/5

The show was cancelled before this relationship really got going, but there were clear indications that Princess Isabella, a major character, was romantically interested in her temporary handmaiden during her stay in Venice. The blonde Venetian helps Isabella outsmart a treacherous situation involving a royal cad who bribes Isabella in exchange for her virginity. The interactions between the handmaiden and Isabella display positive and healthy markers, though their short time together feels a bit stilted, lacking the immediate connection of Benvolio and Rosaline.

Mediaversity Grade: B 4.06/5

Still Star-Crossed is fanfiction made for TV. It employs the tropiest of romantic tropes: arranged marriages, shared body heat for survival, enemies-turned-lovers, pretend relationships, and just about any other tag I’d happily click on in Archive of Our Own. Like fanfiction, Still Star-Crossed has an addictive quality that, when the romantic leads are well developed and exhibit true electricity, it’s damned hard to put down—bad writing notwithstanding.

I’m heartbroken we don’t get to see more of this budding romance between Benvolio and Rosaline. I haven’t been this engaged with a romantic story arc on TV since I can remember, and it’s a damned shame it was abandoned so quickly. Regardless of the abrupt ending, however, I would still highly recommend a watch. The plot ends on a cliffhanger, but the plot isn’t all that interesting anyway and the relationships see enough closure that I don’t regret a single moment of visiting my favorite Shondaland jewel yet.

Like Still Star-Crossed? Try these other period titles that drip with gold and opulence.

Grade: BLiSeptember 19, 2017Great for: Race, Female/Nonbinary Creator