I'm a first-time adult viewer...does it get better?!

Hey, first of all: How old are you?
I used to love the show when I was younger, I was crazy about it for years:P I'm rewatching the show atm and your impression pretty much sums it all up^^ Nope, the music (which I LOOOOOOOOOVED as a kid) doesn't change or improve, neither does the dialogue. I rewatched season 1 and it was great for nostalgia^^ Season 2 was good at times and I bought the 3rd season also, because of Amber (Beth Allen who wasn't available for all of season 2), but I can't say I was as intrigued with the show like I was at 8. The writing is terrible most of the time and I wouldn't suggest it to anyone who hasn't already seen it as a pre-teen. It's still a great show for kids between 6 and 13 I'd say.

And all you'll have is an empty heart and a chipped cup
I think this line's mostly filler..

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Well, when I first watched the show I started watching it during the 4th series (Thanks to the Wam network for not being in continuity) but I can tell you from close to the end of season 1/beginning of season 2 it gets better. I do know how you feel since I do remember watching the 1st season for the first time and I thought mostly the same thing.

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I know, nearly six months later and I am replying ... I wonder if you stuck at it.
The reason I am replying so late is the free version of Hulu has the whole first season and I just started re-watching it.
One thing to remember is that it was a weekly soap when it first aired, 52 eps. a year. The whole thing is very melodramatic in the vein of the soapiest of soaps. If you stop thinking of it as a "drama" and think of it as a soap opera from the late 90's early 2000's it is much more enjoyable. (Most soap operas have really cheesy music IMO) Watch it like you would As The World Turns (in the US) or Eastenders (in the UK) if you can't take that sort of show then it will never improve for you. If you have ever gotten into a soap then you understand how addictive they can be. There is always crazy drama (long lost identical evil twins and the like) and you just go with it. You go with the stilted dialogue, and the iffy acting because the sheer volume of production means that there wasn't time to really smooth out those sort of kinks.
I first saw this show as a young adult (on Wam! in the US) I was about 20 at the time and I loved watching it when I was up late doing homework. Something I could keep one ear and half an eye on while doing something else. Even now, 10+ years later as I re-watch it I have it on while I am cleaning or doing other housework.

Premature ejaculation is not a superpower.

This show definitely lost its way after the third series. The original concept for the show had some promise, but then it lost its way somewhere down the line and just became too unrealistic. It started off as Mad Max and then ended up more like Total Recall. Completely ruined.

With thanks from Your Humble Narrator.

yes it does get better. it's an acquired taste for sure!

Yes and no.

As an adult viewer myself my suggestion is to not forget it is a teenage soap opera.
It will be ridiculous all the time, but it is a lot of soapy, melodramatic fun if you let it be.

This isn't hard hitting, though it does delve into some surprisingly deep areas. (Sex, addiction, mental issues, etc)
And no, the music is the exact same music for all 5 seasons/series, aside from changes in the opening and closing credits.


If you want the "Adult" version of this same plot, there is a 2 season show called "Jeremiah" that has the same plot, but happens 10 years after the adults die off, so the kids are now adults themselves, resources are more scarce.
It's really, really good...when you see the cast, it might make you balk, but trust me and give it a try.

It's The Tribe, but more as a post-apocalyptic drama as opposed to a teen soap.

To be honest the first series is problably the best you're going to get, as it seems to play fairly realistically for what you'd expect of kids caught in a post-apocalyptic setting, with the challenges of survival being obvious. As it goes on it starts to increasingly resmble "cozy catastrophy" mode more and more and by the time the Technos show up, beleivability goes out of the window.

And most of the time it's episode after episode of angsty, whiny teenagers who you'd thought had better things to do than obsess over relationships and stuff, whilst the background music does get annoying the 73rd time you've heard it.