In February 2010, 15-year-old student Blake Robbins, a student at Harriton High School, sued his school for spying on him through a MacBook's webcam. It was a school-issued laptop provided to all the students so they could access school-related resources 24/7. But when Blake was summoned to the principal's office and was accused of selling drugs based on a photograph taken with the laptop's webcam, Blake and his family members became furious. How could the school officials have permission to spy on their students outside the campus? The "evidence" shows Blake in his bedroom, which is a very private space. Spy High suggests that the school could have targeted Blake to get some sort of revenge. He was a latecomer, a "smart ass." He used to get into trouble with teachers. However, Blake was also quite popular among the students. Some interviewees talk about his reputation as a drug seller.
When that photo of Blake is presented to his parents, they become so upset, so enraged, that they file a federal lawsuit accusing school officials of secretly using the school-issued laptop's webcam. The public, at first, fully supports Blake and his family members. People leave encouraging comments on Facebook, and students clap for Blake. Meanwhile, Paige (his sister), Holly (his mother), and Michael (his father) feel like celebrities, thanks to the media people, who call them for interviews and shoot their pictures constantly. But once you reach a certain height, everybody starts burning with jealousy. They look for clues, for evidence to drag you away from glory. The positive comments on Facebook turn negative. The other students and parents label Blake as a pathological liar and believe that his parents have turned the whole incident into a media circus for the sake of money. Someone mentioned that Blake's family has a lot of debt (they owe money not only to the IRS but also to the dentist). Another man displays concern about the scandal's impact on society (he is worried about society's image, as a bad reputation causes a decline in the value of the property).
Just when it seems the focus is shifting away from the main issue, new information comes to light. It turns out that the school had taken more than 66,000 images secretly. So it's not only Blake; there are other victims. Eventually, we meet Jalil Hasan, and through him, we learn about the presence of racism at the school (that B grade in Diversity suddenly comes across as a dark joke).
The story that Spy High tells us is intriguing enough, but the sensational style is dull and unintentionally funny. When someone calls Blake a "bad boy," we see an adult Blake smiling like a spoiled, self-absorbed kid. Screenshots and images are thrown on the screen with the intention to appeal to the gossipy side of the audience that craves "juicy information." Director Jody McVeigh-Schultz doesn't tell you what exactly Blake was holding in the picture until the last episode so that those who do not know anything about the real case can either mock everybody for ignoring the drug issue or come up with their own theories about that strange-looking and blurred pill. This is how a stupid murder mystery, with a weak revelation, hides the identity of the culprit. McVeigh-Schultz tries to convert that "pill" into a punchline, and this decision left me with mixed feelings, probably because I don't think he successfully achieves the desired response from the audience. The director's biggest miscalculation, however, has to be all those movie references that give rise to clips from films like Minority Report and Blank Check. These moments undermine the gravity of the situation during a moment like the one where mental health problems are discussed by the interviewees. McVeigh-Schultz proceeds without a tone in his mind, which is why Spy High doesn't feel cohesive. It ultimately looks like a noisy collage whose potential is severely undermined.
Final Score- [3/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times
Note: All 4 episodes are screened for this review.
Premiere Date: April 8, 2025, on Prime Video