Netflix’s latest limited series, “Brand New Cherry Flavor,” is one of the most bizarre, twisted, and just plain unpleasant television shows you’ll ever watch. However, the film is also one of the more intriguing horror entries of 2021. Based on Todd Grimson’s late ’90s novel of the same name, the limited series is created by “Channel Zero” alumni Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion. In “Brand New Cherry Flavor” (“The Good Place”), Rosa Salazar (“Alita: Battle Angel”), Eric Lange (“Perry Mason”), Catherine Keener (“Get Out”), Jeff Ward (“Agents of S.H. I.E.L.D.”), and Manny Jacinto star.
Throughout eight episodes, we are transported back to the early 1990s in Hollywood. With her startling horror short film, Lisa Nova (Salazar) captures the attention of aging film producer Lou Burke (Lange). Lisa’s short film is taken by Lou, who offers to make it into a feature-length film, with Lisa directing and mentoring the project.
The show begins with Lisa’s life before coming to Los Angeles, a mystery for most of its run. Burke learns about her childhood backstory only at the end of the season, when she recounts how her mother left after she was born in Brazil. It focuses instead on her more recent past, the making of her short film “Lucy’s Eye,” which caught Burke’s attention. Burke meets Mary Gray (Siena Werber), the main character of Lisa’s short film and former lover when he investigates on his own. Mary committed to her role and cut out her eye while dabbling in some peyote on set. One-eyed Mary was left behind in a cabin in the woods while Lisa walked away with a short film and Hollywood’s attention.
However, Lisa’s future is still uncertain. In Brazil, what will she find? Does her mother still exist in the rainforest, hiding out as the white jaguar? What will Lisa do when she finally confronts her? Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer to these questions. Despite its thematic shortcomings, Brand New Cherry Flavor nevertheless concludes with a satisfying arc for Lisa Nova. She set out to make a film for her mother to finally see what became of her after abandoning her as a child. Lisa goes to Brazil in search of her mother in the end. After receiving answers from Boro and fulfilling her curse on Lou Burke, she tells an airline attendant she is returning home as she realizes how her Hollywood dreams were not what they turned out to be.
What Is Boro?
The first big question was answered definitively and satisfyingly two episodes before the Brand New Cherry Flavor finale. Lisa is almost killed in episode 6 and transported to Boro’s home, where she is immersed in rejuvenating white liquid (much like the movie Wanted, which was good). A woman named Jennifer (Catherine Keener), embodied by Boro, informs Lisa of her full story as she recovers from her near-fatal injuries.
It was nearly 1,000 years ago that a handsome man in South America (whom Boro calls James Dean for simplicity’s sake) came across a breathtaking white jaguar. This white jaguar and James Dean have sex immediately. James Dean becomes the king of his culture by taking on some of the white jaguar’s power. Because James Dean received something from the white jaguar or “mother jaguar,” the cat wants something in return. James Dean tries to trick his beautiful young wife into eating another woman, but the white jaguar wants her as a sacrifice. In the end, the jaguar kills James by mauling him nearly to death after finding and eating his wife.
James uses his jaguar powers to jump into the body of a young girl who discovered his body with his last bit of strength.
Since then, Boro has been jumping.
Nine hundred years ago, Boro made a deal with a devil (or something like it). However, since then, the entity has inhabited so many bodies that it is essentially genderless and inhuman. However, it seems like this information is privileged. Lisa Nova should know the true story of their origin, so why would Boro tell it to her? There’s something wrong with Lisa as well.
What Is Lisa?
There’s something special about Lisa Nova. It is obvious to everyone. Upon arriving in L.A., she sells a movie within 24 hours. She fascinates Boro for a reason. She loves magic so much because she is a kitten at heart. But what does it mean?
However, Lisa Nova has some supernatural lineage, which Brand New Cherry Flavor implies. A strange wicker apparition haunts Lisa after she drinks Boro’s guinea pig potion and begins to see dispatches from the other side. The finale also features a white jaguar couch (Boro says the Spaniards turned the white jaguar into a couch) and a faceless woman sitting on it.
Is there a reason why Brand New Cherry Flavor ends the way it does?
When Lisa escapes from her would-be assassin, Pierre, at the end of Brand New Cherry Flavor, she discovers the haunting figure chasing her throughout the series is her “mother,” protecting her from Boro. After speaking with Lou Burke and discovering why he stole her movie, she finds him pitiful. She proceeds to kill him at the hotel. Unfortunately, the worm he snorted during his viewing party in episode 3 blinds him after she pulls it out of his eye.
When Lisa meets Lou, she heads to Boro’s house to confront her. Mary has been hanging out with Boro, and Pierre has followed her there. Pierre is quickly dispatched, and Lisa discovers Mary has been with Boro. Lisa flees after a quick argument and asks Jonathan to meet her at Boro’s so she can borrow his gun before confronting her again.
Is there going to be a Season 2 of Brand New Cherry Flavor?
The next episode of Brand New Cherry Flavor is unlikely to be released. According to Netflix, the show will be a limited series, which usually means there will be only one season. Recently, more and more limited series has been picked up for second seasons – look at Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, which was supposed to be a one-off.
Brand New Cherry Flavor Season 2 can come to fruition, even though it is unlikely.
What is the true story behind Brand New Cherry Flavor?
No, Brand New Cherry isn’t natural (thank goodness!). Todd Grimson wrote the book of the same name in 1996.
